Analysis & Selections By: Dean Keppler @Keppskorner
BEST BET: 1-Video Review (Race 6)
Race #1: Selections: 1-4-2
Happy Halloween! It’s Del Mar opening day and the start of the 4-day Breeders’ Cup Championship week. 1-Broadway Unions goes turf to dirt and tries routing over the main track today for conditioner Adam Kitchingman. The gelded son of Union Rags has run competitive Beyers sprinting on dirt and may find two turns over the main track a nice fit. 4-Navajo Warrior just missed in a troubled trip runner-up finish on Oct. 4 and now moves back up in class for trainer Tim Yakteen. The 3-year-old gelding gets in light again with apprentice Serafin Carmona. 2-Daddy Justify flashed speed before being eased, pulled up, and walked off the course when last seen on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita, but has returned to work thrice since that mishap. He finished second and third at the Maiden $40k Claiming level over this racetrack two and three-back.
Race #2: Selections: 4-1-2
This competitive, wide-open five-furlong N1X optional claiming sprint dash is a good spot for a price play. We’ll try dirt-to-turf 4-Tranche, who had a legitimate excuse when finishing a well-beaten eighth in his lone turf attempt in a grass stake last October. The 3-year-old gelding comes off a good second behind repeat winner Manitowish on Sept. 21 and could find himself on or close to the lead today. 1-Irish Corn has speed and the rail and was a gate-to-wire winner going this five-furlong trip over this track three-back. He earned an (89) Beyer for that winning effort, par for this optional $40k Claiming 1X level. 2-News At Ten (GB) returns to the Del Mar grass course, where he finished a sharp closing third back in August. The gelding gets some class relief this afternoon and switches to Hernandez.
Race #3: Selections: 1-5-2
1-Going Deep flashed good speed before tiring late to finish second in a bulky field when returning off a three-month freshening for Team O’Neill and should be tough to reel in this afternoon with an alert rail break. A pair of runners have returned to win from that Sept. 28 event. Blinkers on 5-Co Heart ships west off the $30k claim at Keeneland on Oct. 11, where she finished a solid closing third. This barn has had modest success (3 for 16/19%/$2.71 ROI) with new acquisitions over this racetrack. 2-Zoe’s Candy makes career start number two off the eight-week break after her 33-1 runner-up finish at Del Mar on August 25. The filly’s (60) Beyer earned that afternoon matches up well here.
Race #4: Selections: 3-2-6
This MDSW turf route for fillies is a toss-up. 3-Interplay flashed improved early zip on Oct. 5 before tiring to finish fourth and is a gate-to-wire threat stretching back out to today’s 1 1/16-mile distance. The 4-year-old filly is reunited with jockey Antonio Fresu, who was aboard for her third-place finish over this course in her August debut. 2-Sophisticate finished a good second from far back in her most recent effort against a trio of returning rivals, including our top pick, and moves from post 11 to the inside today for conditioner John Shirreffs. Blinkers off 6-Spanish Cara makes her third stateside start for Gallagher and Rispoli. The 3-year-old filly by multiple G1 winner Raven’s Pass has continued to work well over the Santa Anita synthetic course. Her two Del Mar turf route efforts this summer were OK, considering she didn’t break alertly.
Race #5: Selections: 3-2-4
3-Nauvoo co-tops the field’s best last-out Beyer (83) with recent sharp gate-to-wire-win over $25k claimers. This 8-time winning gelding has paired up victories in the past. 2-Speed Grazy has finished second in his last four starts at this level for trainer Mark Glatt. The veteran 8-year-old 4-Anitanemercedes ships down from Northern California and rarely fires a poor effort. The gritty gelding is 13-9-7 from 47 career starts and is proven over three different surfaces.
Race #6: Selections: 1-4-7
1-Video Review finished a much-improved third when flashing more speed in career start number two and should be all set for another forward move this afternoon for Team O’Neill. The Reddam Racing-owned son of Nyquist is the Day’s Best Bet on the card, looking like a gate-to-wire winner. 4-Broski (Ire) was a good second in a bulky field in his lone start overseas this past summer and now makes his stateside debut for D’Amato. The juvenile colt by G1 winner Profitable (Ire) lures Prat for his U.S. unveiling for a barn that usually excels with these types. The improving 7-Curvino finished in front of Video Review in his most recent second-place finish on Oct. 5 and is a logical threat for trainer Peter Miller.
Race #7: Selections: 1-5-6
1-Bartholdy broke through in a BIG way with an impressive 9-length Maiden romp on Oct. 13 with a (98) Beyer speed figure. The 3-year-old gelding must prove he can repeat that top effort over a different venue and against winners. He’s the top choice to do just that. The lightly raced 5-Jerry’s Spirit shortens back up for trainer Dean Pederson after flashing speed and tiring when facing winners for the first time on Oct. 4. His Maiden Claiming win sprinting at Los Al two-back was sharp. The 1 for 24 6-Mischelof (Chi) turns back to 6 ½ furlongs today after a long series of main track route efforts. The 5-year-old ran well over this track two and three-back.
Race #8: Selections: 7-10-2
7-Take Me To Church (Ire) ships in from New York off a decent third-place effort on Oct. 3 while making his third stateside start for trainer Brad Cox. A multiple winner in Ireland, this 3-year-old colt looks primed for a top try while making his Southern California unveiling. 10-King of Gosford (GB) sports the field’s best last-out grass Beyer (88), off his most recent third-place finish in the G2 California Crown Eddie D. Stakes on Sept. 28. He must now, however, negotiate a tricky outside post for today’s one-mile trip. He gets Flavien Prat back in the saddle and has shown three strong drills since that last effort. Having said all that, he might be worth trying to beat at a likely underlay. His stablemate 2-Siennois (Ire) returns as a first-time gelding off an 11-week freshening and gets East Coast-based riding champ Irad Ortiz, who is in town for the Championship weekend.
Race #9: Selections 2-3-4
The speedy 2-Honeymoon Suite makes his third start of the form cycle this afternoon for conditioner Jeff Mullins and will attempt to take this gate-to-wire. He finished second in a “key” race two-back over this dirt track, a race that’s since produced three next-out winners. 3-Devil Among Us goes first off the claim for Team O’Neill off a troubled trip third. The 4-year-old gelding stumbled at the start when facing several of these same rivals on Oct. 6 and still managed to grab the third spot. 4-Rogue Son has improved Beyer-wise in each subsequent start since returning to action on August 8 and exits a decent runner-up finish against Honeymoon Suite and Devil Among Us. The right race flow could easily land him in the winner’s circle.
