Opening Day at Del Mar

Some days at the track are better than others.  And some are in another stratosphere.  Today, which is opening day at Del Mar, falls in the latter category.  It's one of the dozen or so "can't miss" racing dates on the calendar each year.

Del Mar opened its gates for business 77 years ago, and on that initial day patrons were greeted by a familiar face who was also one of the track's owners, Bing Crosby.  Good times, and good racing, have been a constant theme ever since.  The Pacific waves crashing onto land less than 1/2 mile away inspired Del Mar's tag line: "where the turf meets the surf." There's no better backdrop in racing.      

Fortunately for our betting purposes, owners and trainers flock to Del Mar.  No one wants to miss out on the big purses, or the party.  All of which translates to big fields with lots of viable betting interests. Opening day is no exception.

The average field size today is 10, and there are very few duds amongst the betting options.  It's a virtual guarantee that some of the multi-race bets will yield big payouts.  Place and show payouts will also exceed the norm, as dollars get spread out on more horses.  In short, there is a lot of different ways we can go as we aim to cash a few tickets as a poor substitute for being there in person.

As I start to scroll through the past performances for today's card, I'm quickly reminded of an important betting consideration: most of today's entrants on the main track have been running at Santa Anita all spring, which is a dirt surface.  Del Mar's main track is an all-weather polytrack.  The two surfaces are very, very different.  And that brings us to Betting Angle to Live By #5: proceed with caution when a horse has never raced over the track.

A horse could be in the best form of his life, but if he has never raced at a particular track, there's a valid reason to question whether the current form will translate to continued success.  There's exponentially more reason to be cautious if the horse is also running on a new surface, as is the case when a horse goes from dirt to polytrack for the first time.

Some of today's races will feature multiple horses who have never run at Del Mar. Workouts over the course become more important in those instances.  And if a horse has never run on any polytrack course I'm going to demand a much higher price, or I'm going to take a stand and bet against the favorite, opting to go deep and use a lot of horses in a multi-race bet (like a Pick 3).

My feature bet of the day will highlight a lightly raced maiden who ran his best race over Polytrack, the #2 (Super Reagan) in the 4th race.  Maidens are horses which have never won, and race tracks often have races solely for maidens in order to ensure the race is competitive. Super Reagan has only raced three times and in his last race he was running against better horses in a $40K claiming race, whereas today he drops and runs for $20K.  I'll be very surprised if his morning line of 8-1 holds, but I think he has a big chance today at a decent price.  

My Pick 3 will start in the 3rd race where I'm going to use 2 (Hail Mary), 3 (Zilber) & 5 (Biorythym). Then I'm only using Super Reagan in the 4th race.  In the last leg I'll go five deep with 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10.  That $1 Pick 3 will only cost me $18.

Depending on the odds at post time, I'm likely to play some money on the 2 and/or 8 in the 5th race, as I think both have a decent shot and should offer some value.

Summer officially begins when racing starts at Del Mar and Saratoga. Del Mar opens today, Saratoga tomorrow. I can't wait to get to both places before this summer ends.