Horse Racing: Today at Del Mar, Sept. 5

Race 1 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 12 feet), Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, 2-year-olds
3 Osceola Pond – Chase a lone speed last time in Rare Candy who is in race 6 tonight; gets a better post to save some ground and stalk the early pace under Gary Stevens.
4 Ring Collector – I sniff something when the meet leading rider jumps on a horse that ran awful in debut; it was in slop on dirt, has pedigree to handle the grass.
Long Shot – 7 Scatastrophe

Race 2 – 6 furlongs, Purse $26,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
7 Two Step Flor – Might seem like the Rafael Bejarano show daily, but he has good competition in the Del Mar jocks room; wins and drops in class, your move.
2 Papaslilprincess – If you draw a line thru her last turf race, her resume will look better; there isn't much in here, she has some strong dirt races buried in the past.
Long Shot – 6 Rosewhitenblue

Race 3 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 12 feet), Purse $78,000, Optional claiming $80,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
1 Majestic Heat – Gets major class relief from the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks for this condition race; love the rail draw in a 2-turn mile, will save all of the ground.
5 Indecise – The biggest story late in the meet has been the hot riding of Frenchman Flavien Prat; he reminds me of Julien Leparoux, but more aggressive early on.
Long Shot – 7 Handful

Race 4 – 1 mile, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
10 It Girl – Was given a test drive under the girl apprentice in last, now switch to Rafael Bejarano for the money shot; need not be much in an awful looking field.
7 Bayonet – Another taking an enormous class drop in search of victory; you'll see this at the end of Del Mar because racing shifts to Los Alamitos after this.
Long Shot – 2 Warren's Purrfect

Race 5 – 5 ½ furlongs, Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, 2-year-olds
6 Arabian Leopard – Trainer Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry in here so caveat emptor; this one cost $575K by Scat Daddy and has been working well in the a.m.
11 Justin Squared – This is the other Bob Baffert baby who drew in off the also eligible list; your edge over me is seeing the tote action on the many FTS.
Long Shot – 7 Tristan's Trilogy

Race 6 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 12 feet), $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf, 2-year-olds
1 I'malreadythere – This is not a ship and win candidate, but a private purchase for the Jerry Hollendorfer barn; he is deadly with these South Florida acquisitions.
10 Tiz a Billy – When I see the meet leading rider jumping to ride a maiden in a stakes race, that raises my eyebrows; leap of faith in Rafael Bejarano decision.
Long Shot – 3 Hollywood Don

Race 7 – 7 furlongs, Purse $72,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up
6 Rockport Kat – Went from zero to 60 MPH in last in a devastating victory; it was also a key race as he dusted Skelton Pass who won next time out.
5 New Summit – Despite his descending Beyer speed figures, he was able to eke out a win last time; I like the angle that he is capable of running faster tonight.
Long Shot – 3 J Serino

Race 8 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 12 feet), Purse $72,000, Allowance, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
5 Tiz a Kiss – I really needed her to win last time and she just missed by a few inches; gets reunited with Kent Desormeaux to try and find the winner's circle.
8 Spirit of Ten – I'm a big Philip D'Amato fan so I will put him on my ticket whenever his horses look live; this filly has won two straight since being claimed.
Long Shot – 3 Warren's Jen Fizz

Race 9 – 7 furlongs, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante, Fillies, 2-year-olds
3 Pretty N Cool – This could easily be a preview of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; trainer Bob Baffert has talked this one up since the start of the meet.
11 Songbird – Her debut MSW win was special, but she runs into a real buzzsaw today in Pretty N Cool; will be interesting to see how the jockeys play cat and mouse.
Long Shot – 5 Surfside Tiara

Race 10 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 12 feet), Purse $75,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 3-year-olds and up
4 Texas Ryano – Has been nibbling at the edges and now trainer Carla Gaines switches to the hot riding Flavien Prat; horses run for him and his timing is impeccable.
5 Atomic Rule – She has gotten good all of a sudden for trainer Tim McCanna; these shippers from Golden Gate have had a tremendous run during the Del Mar meeting.
Long Shot – 9 Zuri Chop

Race 11 – 6 furlongs, Purse $22,000, Claiming $16,000, 3-year-olds and up
7 Formally Wild – When you drop down from a first level allowance to this $16K, it's like running off a cliff and going straight down; might as well win the purse too.
5 Ain't Misbehavin – Drop downs at the end of Del Mar are strictly money grabs at the rich purses; there is no big loss in turning over this kind of stock to try and win.
Long Shot – 3 Cowtownmary

Best Bet - 7 Two Step Flor (race 2)
Del Mar Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 14/2/$8.80; Long Shots, 7/2/$18.00; Best Bet, 1/1/$3.20
Del Mar Totals - 623/146/$987.80; Long Shots, 307/45/$561.40; Best Bets, 36/15/$63.00
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #5 Mylute (15/1) in race 10 at Saratoga. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Comet Sixty Two ran third at Saratoga paying $3.30 to show. Stats - 132/90/$682.20; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick