Home Forums Sports Picks Central Trackside Picks 8/31 Stakes Races

SPINAWAY S.na Brew) was a debut turf winner for Ward but lacks the Speed numbers, breeding and class of most of her foes in here.na Brew) owns a win at Penn National at a quarter-mile and was never seen in the Astoria S. at Belmont in her first try versus winners. The bay would be the upset of the meet -- we simply can't see her anywhere in the mix.

1st-COLLEGIATE
2nd-JARDIN
3rd-CASANOVA MOVE

DEL MAR DERBY (G2), 9TH-DMR, $350,000, 3YO, 1 1/8MT, 6:10 P.M. PDT, 8-31

PP HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 TANGLED TANGO CANANI JULIO C BAZE T C 122
2 KILDERRY MITCHELL MIKE BEJARANO R 122
3 CAPTAIN ROY HESS R B BAZE M C 122
4 MADEO SHIRREFFS JOHN SMITH M E 122
5 TIZ WEST MANDELLA RICHARD E ESPINOZA V 122
6 NOWNOWNOW ORMAN J MICHAEL LEPAROUX JULIEN 122
7 BLUE CHAGALL (FR) CANANI JULIO C BLANC B 122
8 SKY CAPE MULHALL KRISTIN ROSARIO JOEL 122
9 SPINNING SOUND (IRE) GALLAGHER PATRICK SOLIS A 122
10 GIO PONTI CLEMENT CHRISTOPHE GOMEZ G K 122

GIO PONTI (Tale of the Cat), whose only setback in five career starts occurred in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, figures to be a strong favorite in Sunday's $350,000 Del Mar Derby (G2), but regression off a hard-fought victory in last month's Virginia Derby (G2) is a possibility and we think value is to be had elsewhere.

The choice is second time turf starter MADEO (Mizzen Mast), who attempts to follow in the footsteps of recent John Shirreffs-trained male standouts Giacomo and Tiago (Pleasant Tap) as graded stakes winners. Madeo showed promise on Cushion Track early in his career, but was surprisingly beaten a neck in the Alydar S. then trailed throughout in a four-horse Swaps S. (G2). The switch to turf for the La Jolla H. (G2) last out seemed like a smart move. Madeo's sire was a Group 3 winner in France and his dam won a stakes over the Del Mar turf in her penultimate start in 1998. Madeo didn't perform that badly in the La Jolla, closing for fourth after an extremely slow start, earning a 108 BRIS Late Pace figure. Improvement is expected with a more alert beginning Sunday.

Near perfection is hard to knock, and we can't envision Gio Ponti being too far out of the picture. He looked very strong winning his seasonal debut in the Hill Prince S. (G3) and gutted out a nose victory over the tenacious Court Vision (Gulch) in the Virginia Derby, for which he earned a 111 BRIS Speed rating. He might be this good, but we'll take a stand against at a short price.

SKY CAPE (Najran) brings a three-stakes winning streak into the Del Mar Derby, and was a smart 1 1/2-length winner of the La Jolla at nearly 13-1 most recently. He figures to be well positioned throughout and has demonstrated an ability to rally from slightly behind a moderate-to-slow pace, if necessary.

The Del Mar Derby is a great betting race for exotics players as most of the entrants have a legitimate shot to crash the exotics. KILDERRY (E Dubai) has done little wrong in four career turf starts, most recently capturing a division of the restricted Oceanside S. on opening day. TANGLED TANGO (Petionville) finished third in the other Oceanside division won by Dixie Chatter (Dixie Union) and subsequently ran second in the La Jolla. French import BLUE CHAGALL (Fr) (Testa Rossa) was a Group 3 winner in his native land last year, but was unplaced in his two starts over there in the spring. The ever dangerous Julio Canani has taken over training duties of the bay colt.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner NOWNOWNOW (Whywhywhy) was last of five in the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) in his seasonal debut, then finished a nose behind Madeo in fifth in the La Jolla most recently. Perhaps he could be rated higher as we like Madeo, but he might need a soft course for his best race and the Chamber of Commerce weather typical of a San Diego August is unlikely to change in our lifetime. TIZ WEST (Gone West) won the Cinema H. (G3) in a photo two back, then was an uncharacteristic last of 10 in the La Jolla when favored. He is clearly capable of better, but he's always been well liked by the public and might start at underlaid odds.

The two outsiders in the field are CAPTAIN ROY (Tale of the Cat) and SPINNING SOUND (Ire) (Spinning World), both eligible for a first-level allowance. Captain Roy did finish a neck behind Sky Cape in the Alcatraz S. three back, but Spinning Sound's lone victory occurred on Polytrack.

1st-MADEO
2nd-GIO PONTI
3rd-SKY CAPE

SARANAC S. (G3), 9TH-SAR, $100,000, 3YO, 1 3/16MT, 5:22 P.M. EDT, 8-31

PP HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 VACATION MCGAUGHEY CLAUDE III PRADO E S 117
2 MR MACCOOL FAWKES DAVID COA E M 121
3 NISTLE'S CRUNCH MCPEEK KENNETH G ALBARADO R J 117
4 SCHOPENHAUER MOTION H GRAHAM GARCIA A 117
5 READY'S ECHO PLETCHER TODD A VELAZQUEZ J R 117
6 MARLANG ENGLAND DEBORAH G DOS RAMOS R A 123
7 SHIVE'S SUCCESS ARNOLD GEORGE R II CASTELLANO J J 117
8 THOU SWELL WEAVER GEORGE DOMINGUEZ R A 117

Eight turf sophomores will travel 1 3/16 miles in Sunday's Saranac S. (G3) at Saratoga. Canadian shipper MARLANG (Langfuhr) drove home a facile winner of the lucrative Breeders' S. in his latest effort, and the bay colt will be especially tough with a repeat of that performance. Trained by Deborah England, the Ontario-bred turned the corner this year after a pair of lackluster showings as a juvenile, bagging three wins including the Charlie Barley S. in easy fashion. This distance is obviously no problem for the improving sort, and the bullet five-eighths leading up to this adds to his appeal. Richard Dos Ramos comes south to renew their successful partnership.

English import SCHOPENHAUER (Giant's Causeway) hails from the smart Graham Motion barn and merits respect on that fact alone. The dark bay has been second and third in his last two outings and will attempt to break his maiden in graded company on this occasion. The wildcard has had some time to acclimate to the United States and gets united with top pilot Alan Garcia, so he makes sense to factor with these. Since this field is more average than brilliant, we give this one a big chance.

THOU SWELL (Aptitude) nearly pulled off the big upset in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. (G2) over this sod, and we're pretty sure the bay colt will be nowhere near 26-1 against this field. Trained by George Weaver, who has been live with nearly everything at this meet, the late-blooming bay has good tactical speed and should be in the mix late.

The late-running READY'S ECHO (More Than Ready) will make his much anticipated turf bow in here for Todd Pletcher, making his first go since a late third in the Belmont S. (G1) in June. The ridgling earned triple-digit BRIS Late Pace figures in every start but his last, and his style seems to suit the turf to a tee, but the expected low price and lack of tactical speed sway us to keep him underneath in the gimmicks.

VACATION (Dynaformer) owns just one win from four career turf outings and will need better to challenge for the win beneath Edgar Prado in here. The well-bred Shug McGaughey trainee has worked splendidly since arriving upstate and he's bred to enjoy this distance, so we'll use him in the gimmicks from his rail post. We always liked NISTLE'S CRUNCH (Van Nistelrooy) some for trainer Ken McPeek, but we have no confidence in the schedule that he has kept and will only use the talented turf runner on the bottom of our exotics.

SHIVE'S SUCCESS (Grand Slam) took his turf debut by three lengths at Churchill Downs for Rusty Arnold, but the gray has turned in seventh-place finishes in his two outings following that one. The Kentucky-bred colt had a useful prep for this when earning a 108 BRIS Late Pace number behind a tepid pace, but he will still need his best to reach the top three beneath Javier Castellano.

Jersey Derby hero MR MACCOOL (Giant's Causeway) is expected to scratch after running in Saturday's Kent S. (G3) at Delaware Park.

1st-MARLANG
2nd-SCHOPENHAUER
3rd-THOU SWELL

SAPLING S. (G3), 9TH-MTH, $150,000, 2YO, 6F, 4:42 P.M. EDT, 8-31

PP HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY WT
1 REREADTHEFOOTNOTES MCLAUGHLIN KIARAN P TRUJILLO E 121
2 WILD PROOF PERKINS BEN JR LEZCANO JOSE 121
3 SARATOGA STORM SHAW JOHN LEYVA J C 121
4 OFFICER IPOD DUTROW ANTHONY W BRAVO J 121
5 VALIANCY ASMUSSEN STEVEN M BRIDGMOHAN S X 121
6 SILENT VALOR PLETCHER TODD A ELLIOTT S 121
7 DUELING ALEX GAMBOLATI CAM MARQUEZ C H JR 121

Seven two-year-old colts will travel six panels in Sunday's $150,000 Sapling S. (G3) at Monmouth Park. Five of the entries are exiting open-length maiden wins in their last, but we're going to give the edge to Sanford S. (G2) runner-up OFFICER IPOD (Officer) from the barn of Tony Dutrow. The Pennsylvania-bred gray smashed his foes at odds of 3-5 in his debut at Delaware and set a solid tempo before settling for the place spot in the Sanford, behind a real nice prospect in Desert Party (Street Cry [Ire]). The juvenile should be in the mix from the outset under Joe Bravo.

VALIANCY (Tale of the Cat) was extremely impressive in a Saratoga romp last out and rates a big shot with a repeat of his last for conditioner Steve Asmussen. The Kentucky-bred bay was in total control versus a useful bunch at the Spa that day and has posted a pair of maintenance drills in the interim. Shaun Bridgmohan leaves New York to retain the call on the talented youngster.

SILENT VALOR (Lion Heart) was second in his debut over Keeneland's Polytrack to eventual Saratoga Special S. (G2) hero Run Away and Hide (City Zip). The Todd Pletcher colt then dominated a Belmont field by 6 1/4 lengths in May, earning a whopping 101 BRIS Speed figure for his maiden conquer. The dark bay has endured a trio of works in preparation for this event, his latest indicating that he's ready for a strong performance.

WILD PROOF (Vindication) smashed maiden runners by 12 3/4 lengths for Ben Perkins in his latest outing and smoked a half-mile in a bullet :47 in advance of his stakes debut. His dam, Wild Snitch (Forest Wildcat), was a Grade 3-winning juvenile lass over this oval and this one looks like a chip off the old block.

DUELING ALEX (Medaglia d'Oro) romped in his debut over this oval for Cam Gambolati before finding the Saratoga Special too much too soon, but a return to his home base could awaken the bay. We like the fact that the colt was 4-5 at first asking, and he could spring the upset in this wide-open dash beneath Carlos Marquez, Jr.

REREADTHEFOOTNOTES (Read the Footnotes) sped to a decisive score over state-bred foes at Saratoga in his initial appearance for sharp conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin. The Empire State-bred may have been compromised by the rail draw in here, but he showed good speed at first asking while defeating lesser and could be a big factor with a clean break. We don't like the bay on top, but slight improvement should put him in with a chance late.

SARATOGA STORM (Storm Cat) trounced a maiden group at Calder last out and is bred to be a good one for John Shaw. The Florida invader moved up greatly with the addition of Lasix and blinkers in his last, but we're not sure how much more upside he has in this particular contest. With that said, the dark bay will be a big price and he's kin to a pair of sprint stakes winners, so he might be worth a flier.

1st-OFFICER IPOD
2nd-VALIANCY
3rd-SILENT VALOR