Del Mar opens for fall action on Friday for a furious 15-day stand, and 14 stakes races will be offered throughout the meeting. Closing weekend will showcase the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and the Matriarch Stakes.
Several prominent trainers have already shipped to Del Mar. Among them are veterans Bill Spawr, Eddie Truman and Bob Hess Jr. Hess has an allotment of 39 stalls, Spawr 28 and Truman 22, so look for all of them to have success at this meet.
Del Mar opens for just the third fall meet, but horsemen have gotten accustomed to the schedule and are starting to take advantage of the exceptional weather.
Del Mar opens Friday with a race for $20,000 maiden claimers and the call goes to Out of Patience. The veteran has been in some good barns in his career and now debuts via the claim box for trainer Bill Spawr, who has hit with 32% of his first off the claim runners in the last year. This runner has matured with grace, has beaten higher-priced foes and has solid positional speed.
Spawr has another live runner in the second race with Desert Madam. The mare has been in the exacta in five of seven at Del Mar and this miss fits the conditions to a T. She just lost by a nose in her return race on October 16.
Del Mar opens with another well-intended Spawr charge in the third race. He claimed Tribal Jewel two races back and nearly won the first time for this barn. Four of this gelding’s 10 wins have come at Del Mar and he can be placed anywhere and still fire.
Drawing an inside post on the grass at Del Mar can be very important and that is why Americana is preferred in the fourth. She will be making her second start on turf and jockey Rafael Bejarano got a chance to figure her out last time. This miss has :22 speed and would expect the rider to send hard and try to steal the race.
Jockey Mike Smith hopes that Del Mar opens the way his Breeders’ Cup day went as he won three Breeders’ Cup races last weekend. Smith is now back aboard Comes the Dream in the sixth race and was up for this racer’s last win. The runner can lead or track the pace and still prevail.
Trainer Kenny Black will be hoping his trainee Admiral’s Club sails along in the seventh race. Black, a very talented former rider, had this runner set last month off an extended layoff but the racer was beaten a neck. Revenge is the motive.
Del Mar opens with a contentious feature race Friday as the Kathryn Crosby will be renewed and a sweet six-pack will compete.
Amboseli beat 11 in the bushes to graduate and considering she was steadied last time, the race was solid. This miss has been consistent and the way she finishes suggests this trip should be in her wheelhouse.
Kerri Belle was hung wide from post 10 two back. She was inching toward the winner in her last and now has the two races to build on.
Dressed to a T has trained forwardly for this. She is proven at this trip, but may have to invent a journey to beat the arch-rival on the rail.
Do the Dance likes to cut it close even when she brings the A game. This is her favorite course but she was fully extended last time and we really don’t know how much it may have taken out of her.
Sobrandora Inc was a monster in Argentina and she exploded to take the U.S. opener here in game style in the Osunutas Stakes. This five for seven performer could have been compromised by the marooned slot last time.
Glory has much more speed than she just showed and she needed her last race. The Jerry Hollendorfer student won in her second career start and cashed in the second off the layoff run in October of 2015. If you key off of her tough neck beat in the Santa Ana Stakes early in the season, the shoe fits. She very well could be long gone and she is the selection.
Good luck.
