Today at Del Mar, Aug. 23

Post Time 2:05 p.m.
Race 1 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $26,000, Claiming $12,500, 3-year-olds and up
3 Newfound Gold – Remarkable record of consistency for this low level claimer; the problem with most claimers is they don’t run two good races in a row.
1 Sunrise Legacy – I like the fact he was formerly at Golden Gate when claimed by A. C. Avila; suspect this one is dead fit and can make a good run.
Long Shot – 5 Half Dome Dude
Race 2 – 6 furlongs, Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, 2-year-olds
4 Miss Big Stuff – Trainer Peter Miller has an uncoupled entry so caveat emptor; the other Miller FTS is Shut the Box so watch the tote board action.
1 Storming Candy – Trainer Clifford Sise has a three prong uncoupled entry; the other runners are Good fot It and Too Much Chatter.
Long Shot – 3 Shut the Box
Race 3 – 1 mile, Purse $75,000, Optional claiming $62,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
5 Super Majesty – Can’t dispute the fact she has showed a lot of ability early on; the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer is carefully moving her up thru her conditions.
6 Clearly Confused – Gets huge class relief from three graded stakes for this optional claimer; from the live Richard Baltas barn with Rafael Bejarano up.
Long Shot – 4 Sky Mega
Race 4 – 6 furlongs, Purse $45,000, Claiming $32,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds
7 Stealth Drone – One of many taking a big class drop to face much easier; the angle in play is trainer Peter Miller is fighting fiercely for the meet title.
1 Mothernaturespell – Claimed by Bob Hess off a good third last time; kind of surprised that Rafael Bejarano is riding instead of Kent Desormeaux.
Long Shot – 5 Hennythelovepenny
Race 5 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
2 Ms. K J – Did everything but win last time in a very game effort; it was her first time racing for this bottom price tag and she liked the company.
10 Honor N Grace – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; trainer Andy Mathis has done a lot with a little this meet.
Long Shot – 7 Quality Chimes
Race 6 – 1 mile (turf), Purse $50,000, Claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up
7 Home School – Gets the ultimate equipment change for this, first time gelding; trainer Doug O’Neill returns him in a much softer class drop.
3 Mr T Bird – Ran like a short horse in last off a one year hiatus; big rider switch to Flavien Prat so expect improvement in this second time out.
Long Shot – 9 Chips All In
Race 7 – 6 furlongs, Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
10 Finest City – Lost to a good looking FTS in Gloryzapper who is running in race 9 tonight; notice the in-family trainer change from one Kruljac to another.
3 Lily Pod – Twice beaten favorite gets an interesting rider switch to James Graham from Rafael Bejarano; is that helps the odds, than it’s a good thing.
Long Shot – 8 Rockport Dancer
Race 8 – 1 mile (turf), $200,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap, 3-year-olds and up
4 Bal a Bali – Ran dull in last in a narrow loss to Talco; he has a terrific turf resume in winning 12 of 14 grass starts, let’s give him another chance.
2 Talco – If you caught him in the Shoemaker at 13/1, that was the wedding; he’s a 7/2 morning line with Rafael Bejarano so expect even lower odds.
Long Shot – 1 Pure Tactics
Race 9 – 7 furlongs, Purse $72,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
8 Exposure – After a meager start to her career, her last two starts have shown major improvement; from the Bob Baffert barn, he’s capable of a lot of good things.
4 Gloryzapper – If Finest City wins race 7 today, than that will really flatter this graduate; hard to believe Philip D’Amato got a Ghostzapper filly for $15K.
Long Shot – 3 Sweetrayofsunshine
Race 10 – 1 mile (turf), Purse $40,000, Claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
3 With a Twist – The ship and win angle remains a strong one at the Del Mar meet; the thing is the bonus in play is good only for the first SoCal start.
9 Aunty Pearl – Here is another ship and win candidate; Bill Spawr trains this filly and he is excellent first time off a brief layoff.
Long Shot – 6 Redressthebalance
Best Bet - 3 Newfound Gold (race 1)
Del Mar Saturday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 21/6/$33.40; Long Shots, 11/1/$7.60; Best Bet, 1/0/$0
Del Mar Totals - 476/112/$770.40; Long Shots, 236/32/$400.60; Best Bets, 27/10/$43.60
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #2 Cleancut Kid (2/1) in race 3 at Saratoga. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Taghleeb was second at Saratoga paying $4.20 to place and $2.70 to show. Stats - 123/84/$634.20; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick