July 2006 Archives

Jose Silva and jockey Victor Espinoza should be a big winner in the third today at Del Mar.

With favorites winning at a 43-percent clip through the first 10 days of the Del Mar meet, it's no wonder I'm off to a slow start.

Swaps Stakes winner Arson Squad, the next star in trainer Bruce Headley's barn, worked five furlongs Saturday morning at Del Mar in 1:00.20 in preparation for his next start -- the Del Mar Derby on grass.

If you owned a stakes horse and could pick one jockey to ride it, who would u choose? The East Coast's darling, John Velazquez?

Zoning In looks to have the tactical speed to either go gate to wire to sit just off the pace and pounce in the stretch today in the featured Graduation Stakes at Del Mar. It doesn't hurt that Alex Solis, who should be in the Hall of Fame, is riding.

I'm more convinced than ever that ultra-talented apprentice jockey Martin Garcia is going to win the Del Mar riding title.
The kid won two more races Monday, pulling into a tie with Hollywood Park riding champ Victor Espinoza. They both have nine wins through the first six days of the Del Mar meet.

Heading down to Del Mar today to get a little bit of sun and also work on a Juan Ochoa column that will be appearing in Friday's edition.
I'm also going to check and see why my horses have not been running well so far this meet. Is it the air? Is it the feed they're getting? I gotta get to the bottom of this.

I'm off to a slow start with my selections in the Star-News Racing Edition, only five wins in the first four days of Del Mar. But I'm never going to pick as many winners as the other public handicappers. I am a long-shot handicapper, I look for a price and then I strike.
I've done well the past two Southland meetings and it's only a matter of time before some of my long shots start clicking down by the beach. OK .. so for today ...

Well, the colt that some predicted might never win another race looked pretty darn impressive in winning the San Diego Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar. Mike Smith rode the 4-year-old Giacomo, the 50-1 winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby, with perfection.
Granted, the gray colt didn't beat a stellar field, but it was a win and perhaps this guy is starting to put it all together.

All-world trainer Bobby Frankel has moved most of his good stock to the East Coast, but he's got a couple of live horses running today at Del Mar, including the French-bred Amorama in the featured John C. Mabee Handicap. The 5-year-old mare is the defending race champion and loves this track, winning twice with a second in three starts over Del Mar's turf course.
Frankel's other live runner comes three races later in the ninth -- Niquita. She's our best bet of the day, but don't take less than 5-2 odds. She went 4-wide in her return off a seven-month layoff and is ready to roll today for Garrett Gomez.

Three more wins for apprentice jockey Martin Garcia on Friday, including a pair of nice prices on Victory Spy ($16) in the second and Kouri Jill ($19) in the fourth. He came back to win the feature on Ces't Mark and now has five victories in two days.
Trainers are putting this guy on live horses because he can ride and they like that five-pound weight allowance. The way Garcia is going, you have to give all his horses an extra long look.

Alex Solis is riding as well as any jockey in the country. He won two stakes races on opening day at Del Mar and seems to be making all the right decisions.
Alex is as good at judging a pace as it gets. He's equally as dangerous on a speed horse as on a come-from-behinder. In fact, the way he's riding these days, he reminds me of Eddie Delahoussaye when Eddie D. would come from far back and just get up to win. If you bet Alex on a come-from-behinder and he's 2 or 3 lengths behind the next-to-last horse, don't fret. It just means more times than not he's going to be closing like an express train in the stretch.

With news that Patrick Valenzuela may eventually have to undergo back surgery, who's poised to win the Del Mar jockey title?
How about apprentice Martin Garcia, who has been tearing up the Southland since relocating from Northern California two weeks into the Hollywood Park meet?
Certainly, Victor Ezpinoza has to be favored now that it appears P-Val could be sidelined for quite a while because of back pain.