SoCal Saturday 7/19/25 | Del Mar

Welcome back in. My goodness, a week off in

California. We're right back in at Delmar.

My name is Louis Ribow. This is the Horse Racing Happy

Hours in Cal Saturday or July 19th of 2025 alongside Josh and

John. So much for hanging out with us

tonight. We're going to go through the

entire card on Saturday there at Delmar.

First Saturday of the 2025 meet there.

John from just outside of Carlsbad.

How are you my friend? You doing all right?

Oh, are you kidding? We got Delmar open tomorrow.

It's a home game for me about 11 miles down the coast.

We'll just drive down Coast Highway, pull into the track and

look at the beach until the races start.

I've heard of worse. Josh, how are you?

How is Chicago this time? Of year, you know, what's funny

is, you know, the first time I went to Delmar last year, it was

actually like, hotter, like where I was like, we were having

like some like weird heat wave and yeah, it, it's just, it's,

it's been so, so hot this summer.

It's ridiculous over here. Finally, it rained like crazy

yesterday. It was a cool 70° today.

Loving it. But you know, yeah, loving,

loving Del Mar and having Saratoga back.

So this is gonna be. It should be fun.

It's hard to ride in the New Saratoga of Kentucky.

Ellis Park with their $100,000 Vaden special.

There you go. Unbelievable, Jon.

So glad to have you on, man. Of course, you can find Josh on

What's the name of your podcast there Mr. Cherry Drank.

We are on the wrong leads. You can find us at Wrong Under

Score Lead on Twitter and on The Wrong Lead on YouTube.

And John needs no, no introduction to this crowd, but

certainly thoroughbred Los Angeles thoroughbredla.com all

the good things happening with you.

An hour on Saturdays too. On Sundays, John.

Yep, 9:00 to 10:00 AM Pacific on Saturdays, 8:00 to 10:00 AM

Pacific on Sundays. And obviously you're not in the

area here in in California. And catch us at

thoroughbredla.com. That's exactly right, easy to

stream and frankly because of the time difference for a guy

like Josh or me on and plenty of time to have brunch or

something, frankly. Yep.

That way if you are new to the show, if you happen to be

catching us for the first time, we walk through the entire card.

We do it with our friends at Amwager who are live in

California. Get the Amwager Edge right now.

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amwagerandamwager.com. All right, pretty simple, pretty

straightforward. Let's get right into it, John,

when we talk about playing California, so you know, take

out rates are different place to place.

What's the best pick 5 to play on a California Southern

California card? Every time it's it's always the

first pick five races one through 5, it's a they called

the horse players pick 514% take out lowest in the one of the

lowest in the country, as opposed to the late pick 5,

which is still a good bet, but the take out's 23.68 so

significant value in the first pick 5.

Pick five does start here with a state bread maiden special

weight. We got 2 year olds, folks.

We got 2 year old Phillies in this 15 furlongs on the dirt

there at Del Mar. We'll run it for $100,000.

We do have a second timer in this field.

We have a 4th timer in this field as well, John.

But these are the races that get us going and frankly, we can

always find value during the summer at Del Mar.

Where'd you land in race one? Well, you know, we have

something out here called the Ship and Win program to bring

horses out to California. If you start, if you haven't

started in the state within a year and you bring a horse that

made their last start out of state to California for Del Mar.

On dirt races you get a 50% purse bonus when you race and

with two year olds you get a a maiden dirt bonus of 25%

depending on the barn size. So you're running for a huge

bonus and that that fits for #1 here.

What's a good name? First, second time starter now

in the Peter Miller barn. Had a start over at the

Churchill Downs. Finished up really well down on

the fence. Got a real good schooling

session behind horses, galloped out.

Well, blinkers on tomorrow, Saturday and or excuse me on

Saturday. And the the key here is the the

Robeson's the owners. They point to Delmar.

Every summer they bring horses out from New Mexico and this

horse was with Steve Asmussen in Kentucky.

They come out here for the summertime.

They like to get their picture taken.

Peter Miller knows what to do. I think at the five to one on

the program. This is a very live second time

starter as the first timer in here #9 MO Haven $200,000 Cal

bred purchase by Yalpon, who's off to a terrific start in his

first year. First crop five wins.

A5 first time starter wins out of his 1st 15 starters.

So he's they're they're precocious.

The source is training well. John Seller points to this meet.

Hector Barrios is his main man. They're the five to two

favorites and they're very live in here too.

For me it's I'm going to go too deep in that pick 5, the one and

the 9:00. I went ahead and and handicapped

this before the lines came out. I landed actually on Bowhaven as

my top pick here. Josh, where did you end up?

Yeah, I'm, I'm basically the same way as John.

I think the one the the kind of the thing that jumps out to me

about the one, you know, obviously the ship and win that

that he had already mentioned, but that's a horse coming out of

a key race. You got two horses out of that

race that came back to win. I believe one of them won a race

at at Saratoga recently. So, you know, coming out of the

key race, the horse looks like it's been working really well

since, since getting up to California.

And you know, you, you see Hernandez get aboard anybody.

You know, he, he, he's going to have his pick of mounts,

especially with, with some of the other jocks, you know, kind

of going around for, for big, you know, the Monmouth card and

you know, some in Saratoga. So he, he's got the pick of the

litter and he decided to, to land here on the 1.

So I, I really like the one that's actually my top pick.

I am going to use the 9 as well. Really the only other horse I

kind of gave a look at what was the 1080s.

I thought this might be an interesting horse just, you

know, got a run out last time seemed to just kind of, you

know, run in place didn't really didn't really do much.

But second time out owned home bred for Redham racing.

And you know, I look at that work tab and that work tab just

shows me that this is a horse that's going to try and show a

little bit more gate speed, I think this time out.

So I thought the 1080s was a little interesting and a bit of

a flyer, but I think I think the 1:00 and 9:00 will probably get

you home. Yeah, never hate a second time

starter. It's always amazing when a horse

finishes 20 legs off the track. But they learned enough to go,

OK, all I got to do is just keep going instead of what I did last

time. It's another first timer here,

John, I wanted to ask you about in Lady K Westfall out of Luis

Mendez's barn. He's turned into a heck of a

trainer first time out frankly, And this is 1 to me that checks

a lot of boxes, frankly. Louise a sneaky guy, he will pop

when you're not expecting them and sometimes they'll jump

forward. Second time out.

This is a that's been entered back.

She was entered opening day and so she's going to or or excuse

me, he's going to show up in this spot.

Horses trained well and you know she's a Philly that long legged.

She'll probably want to go a little bit further, but she does

have some tactical speed. You got Edwin Maldonado, who is

that Barnes number one rider. I can't throw her out.

If you like her, you know, she would probably be the third

option for me, but it's a barn. If she doesn't run well this

time, keep an eye on her, especially if they throw

blinkers on her or make a little equipment change in the second

start. A lot of times that's OK.

We're going now. Josh mentioned something

earlier, John, and I'm going to put you on the spot here.

Bill Shoemaker, 1949 to 1954, six straight riding titles at

Del Mar, Rafa Bay. Herano, a neighbor of mine now

of all things, 4 excuse me, five straight from 2012 to 2016.

No one's got four other than those two guys.

Does Juan do it this year? He's got to be heavily favored

to do it. You know, with all the grass

racing coming that's out here during the summer time, you

know, a guy like Hector Barrios could get very hot, and he's

writing for the right guys. John Sadler and, and then, I

don't know, we've got some new faces this year.

You know, you've got Victor Shamanov's out here right now.

I don't know if he's going to be here the whole meet or not.

But Matt, Matt Nakatani's book in his action.

And Umberto Riespoli, who writes journalism this weekend in the

Haskell. But he'll be here on a regular

basis. But day in and day out, Juan

Hernandez is going to be the guy to beat.

Antonio Freiso, of course, just won his first riding title at

Santa Anita. Obviously, Juan Hernandez will

try to flip the script here. We move on to Race 2.

And John, I also wanted to ask you about these races.

I have really enjoyed these, these claiming level races.

And frankly, the fives and the eights that happened at Santa

Anita, I thought they were great to bet on.

They've really filled out these cards, frankly, with 11, you

know, 12 kind of horse fields. What's been the reaction locally

to these to these these races? Well, you know, you have to do

it. You we've got these Northern

California horses, you got to give them a place to run.

And you're right, there was a scarcity of dirt horses in

California. So they are filling out cards at

the when they first came down, they were extremely formal or

you know, the, the logical horses were winning all the

time. For me as a rolling bet player,

there were a lot of times that kind of ruined the rolling bet

sequence because here's a three to five shot that's going to

win. What are you going to do?

It's gotten a little bit more wide open and Del Mar is not

going to have races restricted just to Northern California

horses. They're going to have some races

where the Northern california-based horses are

preferred, but it's not going to be Northern California only.

So that's going to be a little bit tougher for them now.

And in general, you know, as long as we have a big field size

and there's value, I'm. I'm going to play.

Yeah. That's exactly how I feel.

And so these races, a $10,000 claimer in Race 2, here it is

for Phillies and mares 3 and up. We're going 5 1/2 on the dirt.

Josh, we'll start with you. I think a chance at some real

value in here. Yeah, a chance at value.

And I unfortunately, I think I ended up on the chalk in this

race. It's the number one unwritten

code. This just looks like a race

that's completely devoid of speed.

And you might see some speed maybe out of out of the four

Ivory Moon and and possibly the six Gypsy Lynn.

But you know, unwritten code has been shown, has shown obviously

turf speed and has predominantly been a turf runner.

But you know, you go back to that low Sal race in December

was on the lead set some, you know, pretty, pretty decent

fractions there. So so this is definitely a horse

that's got dirt speed as well. You know, sometimes we talk

about turf speed and and dirt speed are completely different

things. But this is a horse that can can

show some speed on both angle, both surfaces there.

So I just think with the with the lack of speed there, there's

a good chance that the one just kind of gets out there and is

able to just get loose on the lead and and win.

Not not super, super creative here in in this race, but I'm

just gonna single. It's gonna be my only my only

horse I'm gonna use here. I'm gonna use that 100 and code.

One for 16 are Thiago Pereira and trainer Jeff Mullins, their

last 16? John, any chance we can beat the

one here? I think so.

We're going to find out real quick if the rail's any good

after these first two races because there are a lot of

horses down on the fence in general and Del Mar especially

sprinting, being down on the inside on a pay stool is really

not where you want to be. And it'll be an outside, outside

stocking kind of track. Then all of a sudden for one

weekend, the rail will be golden and they got us all looking bad.

But keep an eye on this because this first two races will give

you an idea of what that track is going to be like, at least to

start the meet. For me, I, I, I found some

value, I think in #3 Twilight Empire.

This is an older married, an 8 year old Philly got left at the

start last time. And you can really throw that

race out as a very fast race. And, and the Philly that won

that Cal bread allowance of bits Tiger moon, Tiger Magic, Bits

Tiger magic is a nice Philly. She's going to be all right for

trainer Peter Miller. She drops to 10.

She wanted this level 2 back when she broke that time.

She had some tactical speed. She's not going to be on the

league, but she's going to be a lot closer than she was last

time and she's at the proper level.

And I just think 8 to 1 is a lot of value there for me.

So Twilight Emperor for me, Empire for me.

Isabel Ludlow comes off of two good races back-to-back, but she

also got perfect trips both times, sat inside.

Last time she cut the corner, Los Alamitos opened up and still

got nailed. So she's in good form, but she

had everything in her way the last two starts.

Can it happen three times in a row?

As a horse owner? I doubt it.

You know, there's usually some adversity you have to deal with,

but she's obviously a horse that you have to deal with in here

and unwritten code should get loose in here.

She's a failure that used to love to win races.

She was always kind of a 5 furlong turf sprinter.

The 5 1/2 is not going to hurt or one bit.

And this is a no brainer, right? You just till till Tiago go fast

and win and you see how far you get in it.

At the 8th bowl, she's 4 lengths clear.

You're going to like your chances.

That's exactly right. We'll move on to race 3.

Keep it going. End of the early pick three get

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for new customers live in California.

They're as well maiden special again in race 3.

But this is for maidens 3 and up or on the turf going 5 furlongs

here and John, this is what I think of what I think of turf

spreading at Del Mar and Sanita. I won't lie, I think of down the

hill. That's what I always think of

because it's it's it's unique in its own thing.

Man, this 5 furlong thing at Del Mar is very much what I think of

what I think of Del Mar turf. It's sprinting, frankly.

This is an interesting field and I was wondering where did you

land on this one? Well, the horses that are in

good form, horses like #2 Ericas and #10 Burning, remember those

races are coming out of a very soft.

So I'm looking for somebody either haven't seen before or

just coming out of a different circuit.

And there are two horses that I like in here #9 Arctic Power

making his US debut. This is for trainer Phil d'amato

who is really good with these Irish imports.

Training well enough. This is another one of those

ship and wind horses, so you're going for those bonuses.

This horse gets a 40% first bonus if the horse wins on on

Saturday. Training well enough and and has

been using the Tepita track at the Santa Anita to train.

That's usually what the turf horses do.

And again, the long term record with Phil, the motto is very

good. There's the first time right

here I want to see if it gets any action #4 September 64.

The gate works in the morning. Been good.

This horse has speed, you know I don't think Mike pipe is known

as poppin first time out, but he gets his share and he's not

afraid to go the window. So kind of watch the toe board

on #4 September 64th. This horse is getting bet.

Both the ownership and the trainer are not afraid to bet.

So we'll we'll watch that. The logical horses again, like I

mentioned number 2 ericas #10 burning rubber.

They could win, but if they do, I'm just going to call it a weak

race. I have terrible news for you.

I think Mike Pipe's got the best horse in this race and so I

think some time is going to get bet down quite a bit.

Josh, where did you land in this one?

Yeah, You know, I, I, my eyes went to the two and the 10

first. Obviously kind of looking at

those races, if if you're, you know, a believer in speed

figures, obviously those are the the horses that kind of beat the

two. I like much, much less because

I, I never liked seeing a horse that gets out in the front, gets

it kind of easy and then ends up just, you know, packing it in

and folding, even if it is, is sprinting it.

And, you know, now they're going to, you know, you would think,

hey, we're, we're cutting the horse back.

You know, conventional wisdom is, hey, well, that means that

the horse isn't going to get short at the end.

But we all know the, the, the shorter, the distance, the

quicker the horses go early. So this isn't going to be a

horse. I think that's, that's really

necessarily going to be on the lead.

I thought the 10 was, it was obviously a little bit more

interesting here. I think you're getting a better

price. I see 8:00 to 1:00 in the

morning line here. You know, you get Kyle Frey

aboard who is kind of, I think had a little bit of a

resurgence. I know he was really, really hot

at in North Cal, came down to Southern California and, and was

kind of hot and cold. But I I thought he had a pretty

decent Santa Anita meet and I think this is a horse that that

fits in here pretty well. The only other horse that I

thought might be a little interesting at a humongous price

is the five cool tap dancer. This is a horse that got onto

the turf for the first time last time out.

And just I mean, this was this horse is just green.

I just was inside outside. I think I think might have hit

the rail on the turn. I mean was just all over the

place and still managed to put up a career best figure in that

race. So I, I do think that there's

some there's some talent there. Obviously it's still going to

need to take a a step forward. I think on time form probably

needs to make up about 10 points.

But I think second time on the turf, you're not asking for too

much there. And I mean you're getting 30 to

one. This this horse was 73 to one

last time out, but 30 to 1, you know, I'll, I'll take a shot

with this horse. The horse has been working

pretty well and I, I like seeing a horse that, you know, you can

make an excuse for that. And obviously this horse had a

horrible trip, looked really green and, you know, interested

to see what this horse can do second time on the turf.

I told you, John, that I had September 64 on top.

I had a city in a state that you spent a lot of time in, but not

the actual city. Reno as my second play here.

Am I leaning a little too much on Peter?

The second timers there. No, I mean, this is a 5 year old

against mainly 3 year olds here. So he has a maturity edge and he

had worked well at times, but he was for a 5 year old, he was so

green in his debut. He's got speed.

But you know, I'm going to if you, if you bet him, you know,

you might want to cover your eyes when he hits that turn, you

might make this go straight. I'm not sure he's going to make

the turn. Obviously to keep a.

Yeah, to keep a 5 year old around this long though, he has

to have shown some ability or else you would have just cut him

loose. So there's that.

And and Peter Urdin's a great horseman, he knows what he's

doing, so there's a chance he can improve a ton.

And again, it's not a strong race.

So again, show me something that I haven't seen before and that's

possible. We are previewing the full card

on Saturday at Del Mar. For Saturday of the season there

at Del Mar, he's Josh Rodriguez. In the middle is John Lindo from

Thoroughbred LA. My name's Louis Rubo.

Thanks for hanging out with us and wager.com.

Go check them out. Our friends over there, that

great platform for you, the horse player.

Middle pick 4 here. John, do you like the addition

of the middle pick 4? Yeah, I do.

You know, especially with an 11 race card, if you get blown out

of that early, pick 5. There's something else if you're

a rolling bed player to try, you don't have to play it, but it's

there for if you want. And, and one thing that Delmar

has at Santa Anita doesn't is that $1.00 place pick all that

starts in the first. It's the first ten.

It's the maximum 10 races. So on the weekends where there

are 11 races, it'll start in race 2.

Otherwise, it's race one. Race 4 is another maiden special

weight for Cal Breads. This is for two year olds again,

5 furlongs on the dirt in this spot.

Is it my turn to go 1st and I go first at some point.

Another one of these that I did before we got the numbers and I

am thrilled to find out that the 9 horse on the outside, American

Tiger, is 12:50. I'll put that one on top for Tim

Yaktine, who I respect a ton with first timers.

This just seems to be the kind of cow bred we see the Smiling

Tiger name around with a lot of winners in that maiden winner's

circle. Interesting here because I think

Herrera is an interesting choice for Ryder here.

They haven't had a ton of success together, but John Ike

boy, I'm happy to see that. 12:50 because I thought in a in

a race where I wasn't real sure about who was going to, you

know, either with like a Mystic Moses show up better next time

or an ark, you know, an Arkadelphia.

I knew that horse was going to be short money.

I don't know that I was enamored with how that horse ran second

time out, especially trying dirt for the first time.

So I thought I'd go to the outside there.

I feel good about time to 1. I think you're right,

Arkadelphia is going to be bet here.

He comes out of a very fast race.

So the winner of that race hero or 0 is probably going to be

favored in the Graduation Stakes for at Delmar.

But I'm with you. I don't like the way this horse

kind of gave it up late and barely held on for the place.

It's a horse that can improve again, he's he's eligible for

the ship and win money, but I just think he's beatable here.

And I I like the first timer #3 Sammy Davis.

So this is a horse that he's a half brother to Callie Cat who

runs in the Oceanside on opening day at Del Mar.

But he's built, he's real stocky and why he looks like a sprinter

and he's shown good speed in the mornings.

This is another one of those John Sadler horses and and

Hector Barrios is on this one too.

He's shown speed. I I think he's going to come out

running and even though he's got a little bit of grass breathings

by Sir Prancelot, he's gotten over the dirt just fine.

So I'll I'll take him and I think he's what 3 to one or what

is he on the morning line there 7 to 2 and I'll I'll try and a

little upset over Arkadelphia there.

But American tiger, I agree, is very live.

So interesting race, but I think again, you're trying to be the

favorite in this race. No, that's right.

I, I, I just think, you know, and I think Arkadelphia is going

to get enough money that you might get that 7 to 2 after all.

So, Josh, where'd you land in this one?

Yeah, I really like American Tiger.

You know, when I and in these maiden races, I tend to rely a

bit on, you know, workout reports and and obviously you'll

be in a couple days out from the card.

We don't have those available yet.

So opinions can always change. But you know, when you start

looking, one of the things I start looking at is, all right,

how how precocious is have siblings been for, you know, for

the the progeny of the dam and the sire and American tigers

dam, Banner Elk Lady has thrown 2 two year old winners and two

starters and all three dirt starters have also have been

winners. So, you know, like seeing that

you can't, you don't really see too too much win early on the

damn side. The only other horse that that

kind of has a bit of it is the one Benny and the jet, which is

another horse I'm going to use clubhouse ride.

You know, it's 18% dirt sire and two of the three siblings have

one on the dirt. So, you know, just trying to

find something, you know, look at some of these horses see like

what the precocious types you're going to be here.

The the two and the three, I think both make a ton of sense

and they're going to be kind of your your short prices.

You know, Luis Mendez with two year olds is just so, so good.

It like it always feels bad when when he bumps you out of a pick

3A pick 5:00 and you're just like, wow, you know, so Luis

Mendez, 2 year old, I left off and sometimes he does it at a

price too. Obviously hear the words kind of

out on this horse, but you know the the effort last time out

wasn't doesn't look unbeatable, right?

I mean, obviously a decent enough figure, but I do think

that some of these first time starters are definitely in here

with a shot. So I'll use the one and the 9 as

my primary plays, and then I'll probably use a little bit of the

three and probably the two off my tickets.

The fifth race, of course, will close that early.

Pick 5. The players pick five out there

in California. Jump in on that one to start

your day 5 furlongs on the turf here in an allowance.

Optional claiming field 81,000 on the line for three-year old

Phillies. Enough of those running around

out there to fill a race. How about that, John?

That's good news. We got a field of nine here.

And look, tight squeeze comes in at 5:00 to 2:00.

Josh. I'm not at all sure that that's

not an unfair number, frankly. You know, it's funny because I,

I've, I've felt like I've been eating a lot of chalk and the

first couple races I've, you know, I've liked the chalk.

I do not like there's 2 short prices in this race whatsoever.

The two tight squeeze can win, obviously is coming off is 2 for

three has Hector Burios aboard who you know, rides absolutely

lights out on the turf out West and you know, is coming in here

obviously in good form. But speed figure wise, it

doesn't really jump off the page.

And you know, I've I've gotten myself in trouble with these

types of horses that like to win but don't look all that much

faster. But I'll have a I'll have a fade

on tight squeeze and then the six transcending first time in

the US for Phil d'amato, you know, on on time form figures.

This horse needs to find a heck of a lot to to kind of compete

with the the American horses here.

And you know, sometimes I'll I'll forgive 20 points in the

time form scale, but we're looking at probably about 30

points. We need an improvement here.

So I'll I'll go ahead and I'll I'll have a fade on those

horses. I think the number one comeback

gal makes a lot of sense here. Obviously 1 you know, wire to

wire last time out we're going a little bit shorter.

So I see this is a horse that's probably gonna get a little bit

more of a tracking trip and and sit just behind some of the

speed and you know, the figure last time looks good.

The last two races have shown, you know, significant

improvement from race to race. So I think we have another step

forward. Looks to be really good the

five. Hey, little lady, you know,

hasn't really found hasn't really been able to win the last

couple times out, but broke its maiden turf sprinting.

They've kind of, you know, done a couple different things with

this horse, you know, gone a little bit longer and, you know,

tried 6 1/2. So I'd like to cut back to A to

a straight Sprint here for for this horse.

And you know, this is another one that's going to be kind of

coming late in this race. And then the eight origami with

Tiago Pereira aboard, you know, this is another horse that if

you look at speed figures, it's just got an eye popping number

on the time form scale. And you know, I'm interested to

see, you know, Doug O'Neill's cutting this horse back.

Thiago sees fit to stay aboard. I see this is gonna be probably

a mid pack type here. And this is another horse that's

just been working out really well.

So I'm really interested to see what how this 8 origami runs on

the cutback and I'm gonna get a decent price 15 to one in the

morning line on that one. So we'll try and fade some of

the the chalk in this race. My on top horse was not

mentioned there. John Proud Starlet is who I have

on top for Tim Yaktid here. Who'd you land on?

I'm, I'm with the Josh, I, I like come back girl here now I,

I know she got a real easy lead on a slow pace.

So that that is a flag. But when they came to her last

time in San Anita, she took off. She ran that third quarter in 22

seconds, just over 22, and then she galloped out four or five in

front. There's more speed there than

she needed to use last time. She's getting better.

And in general, these 5 furlong touch prints at at Delmar, if

you have speed in the one or two posts, that's a good thing.

You just want to come out of there running, hold your

position, save that grounder on the turn and make them come

around you to win. And so I think comeback girl

will leave the gate running and Armando Ayuso sneaky good on the

grass at Delmar and he's a guy you can still get a lot of value

on on the tow board. So this horse is 8 to 1.

I think she's going to move forward again.

I think you do have to be tight squeezed.

Now this is a filly that has a turn of foot.

She can sit behind horses. Hector Barrett will drop her to

the fence, get out, run should be 4th or 5th down on the rail

Turner for home. He'll find a place to go and if

they come back she's you know, she'll finish.

So she is definitely the one to beat to me.

I just made the race one and two and and I think I've got it

covered, one in front, one from off the face there.

You go, that's the early pick five.

Move on to race six. Another maiden special here.

This one is for two year old Phillies.

We're going 5 furlongs on the Nerd, 100 grand on the line

here. Not a Cal bread.

This is more of an open company type of race and we see plenty

of Kentucky breads filling it out for those reasons.

John, we'll go to you first here in Race 6, but.

When you talk to about two year olds at Delmar, especially

maiden specials, not Cal breads, you got to look, well who's Bob

Baffert got and he's got the cherry cider in here who is

working fast. But I I'll tell you, even though

she's worked fast, she hasn't been super impressive.

She's been outworked in in a couple of these works.

Now she might be working with secretary in that barn, You

don't know. But you know, she's working

fast. She's going to get over bed as a

favorite. It was just enough to me.

Well, if she, you know, if she's one of those horses that waits,

what's the option here? And I I think an interesting

horse in here is number 8. Thank you, India.

This is the first time starter for Andy Mathis who was based in

Northern California. They spent $140,000, which is

not what you usually see from the Northern California guys.

And in the mornings this Philly is very quick.

She's got speed and, and she'll run hook, she'll she'll, she'll

face pace pressure. She's drawn outside the Baffert

Philly here, cherry cider. You just send her out of there

and, and see if the other Philly cracks.

And if she doesn't, she doesn't. But I think she's she's fired to

one of the program. I think you're going to get all

of that, probably more, but I like the outside post with a

Philly who I know has speed and you're you're going to get an

overlay on anything not trained by Bob Baffert in this race.

So a slight lean to thank you India for me.

The other horse that would that cost a lot of money is the #3

excuse me #2 Super Corridor, a $400,000 horse again, John

Sadler, Hector Barrios. These guys could have a really

big first weekend here and just watching her her go, she might

want a little bit more distance down the line.

I don't know if 5 furlongs going to be her thing, but she can

run. Daughter of gun runner there or

they pay a lot of money for those gun runners.

Josh, who'd you land on here? Yeah, I I don't think I'm going

to try and beat Bob in this this spot.

I'm going to use the 6 cherry cider.

Luckily for me, this is not part of either the early or the late

pick five. So the the chances of me

actually having any type of money on this race is probably

pretty slim. But yeah, cherry cider looks,

you know, tis the law has been, you know, off to a pretty decent

start as a sire. So I like cherry cider.

I I do. I do like the two a little bit.

But you know, to John's point, you see gun runner and you you

can't help but think, hey, we probably want to see this one,

you know, going two turns at some point.

But not not to say that you can't win early.

But yeah, those are kind of the two that stuck out to me.

And I'll, I'll, I'll have a close eye on on workout reports

when those come out and, and see, see what the clockers think

on some of these horses. Pick six at Los Al and at Santa

Anita's 2 bucks John, what are they doing for pick 6 is which

just started by the way, in race 6 there what are they doing

they're. Holding this, yeah, they're

holding it the same as they did last year.

It's a $1.00 bet. It's the same.

It's an 8020 split. After the takeout, 80% of the

money goes to the tickets with six and 20% of those with five.

So they kind of front loaded to the the tickets to get the all

the wins. And it's a dollar bet.

So it makes it a little bit more affordable.

I think you'll see less carryovers at Delmar than you

did at Santa Anita because of that.

But more people are going to cash, yeah.

No, that's right. They're doing it like that for a

while. I think it's them, it's Keelan

that does the $1.00 pick six. I'm trying to think who else

does the traditional $1.00? Churchill had that one for the

Derby, the Derby card, right And then now they but they have that

Derby City 6 on a regular basis. Yeah, that's the 20 seconds

jackpot. I yeah, it's nice to have that.

I I like the setup of that. If you, especially if you feel

like you've got a couple spots where you want to take a stand,

that $1.00 out. So I think is so much better and

so glad that we will have it on Saturday.

We move on then to race 7 and this is the first stakes of

Saturday and this is the Wicker and this is a mile on the turf

course and essentially this is for three and up that haven't

what a great at stakes this year.

And so we're going on that some names in here that people almost

certainly will know if you follow West Coast racing

especially. But all around I'll be on

brilliance in this field. Bran is in this field, Air Force

Red and on the outside is endlessly who ran in last year's

Kentucky Derby after winning the Jeff Ruby Stakes in Florence at

Turfway Park. John, this is a fun one.

I like how this one's set up. It seems to be, you know, these

kinds of races where we can we can pop up sets because these

aren't horses that have been winning grade threes and winning

grade twos and doing that kind of stuff.

But frankly, some horses that have won those kinds of races

before. Where'd you land in the Wicker?

This race, the Wicker comes up tough every year for for the

amount of money that the purse is, $100,000, it always throws a

full field. You've got the horses trying to

get back into the greatest stakes in this restricted type

of race. So they come from all sides.

I mean, Beyond Brilliant is a Grade 1 winner, but he hasn't

run in 30 months. That's a long time.

So I don't care if he's training well or he's got to have to

prove to me that he's where he was when he left.

I have a slight lean toward #7 Brandon here.

He comes off a little bit of a troubled trip behind Notorious

coming down the hill at Santa Anita.

Last time he was at Del Mart, a mile, he won.

He has two sprints going to a route now.

I like that pattern. He'll fall into a stocking trip.

There's speed in here. You have final boss #4 he's got

to go and and beyond Brilliant usually has speed.

Air Force Red when he routes is usually on the lead.

So at the very least the pace is going to be honest in here.

And I think maybe Brand trips out and that's the top horse for

me. Don't go to sleep on #11

endlessly. You mentioned him, Louis.

This is a horse that got off track.

He was a really good grass horses and young horse.

They tried to get him into the Derby.

They did by going to the Tepita at the Turfway Park.

He's not a dirt horse. He really isn't that as good on

Tepita either. He's a grass horse and it's

taken a little while. The two races off the layoff are

both in one in wire to wire fashion.

He didn't have the right scenario for his style.

He gets a pace today. He adds blinkers and he's over a

course that that he's already at stakes when he won the Delmar

Juvenile Turf over this course. It's very positive.

I don't like post 11, but I can see him waking up in this spot

for sure if he's a big number. Again, you depend on Hector

Barrows to to work out a trip from a bad post.

He's done it before. So I think this is the horse

that's going to prove. Then you have forces like

Almendaras and Astronomer. They like this course, but they

just don't win. So if you're a trifecta and

super player, use the 9:00 and 10:00 in the 3rd and 4th spots.

But I would try and beat them to win.

So Bran A slight lean to me in a wide open race.

I landed on Bran as well. I also, this feels like the kind

of spot that endlessly gets back to winning, right?

It just kind of does where this kind of level, Josh, But I saw

you nod at least a little bit about Bran there.

Yeah, I, I looked at Bran. He he's probably, you know, my,

my fourth choice in this race. I, I'd like a couple others.

I, I completely agree on beyond brilliant.

You know this, I mean unless, unless the trainer's name is

Chad Brown, I am not going to try and bet any horse that's

coming from nearly 1000 days off coming back.

You know, Chad's got some insane strike rate with being able to

just make a horse disappear for 2 1/2 years and come back and

win. You know, John Sheriffs to me is

always someone who brings his horses along very slowly.

So even if he's bringing his horse back, I I imagine he's

going to need this run no, no matter what.

So I'm, I'm not going to have beyond brilliant on any of my

tickets. I'm going to I'm going to go

with a couple of horses. I think John had already

mentioned Almendariz is, is the horse I probably like the most

in this spot. Speed figure wise, he fits.

And you know, he does have a win on this going this trip, the

mile at Del Mar. But yeah, hasn't won in a while.

And I think that's kind of baked into his price a little bit.

You're going to get 6 to 1. You get Phil d'amato and Freizu

here and you know, they, they, they, they win a ton of races.

So I, I like to see Almendariz here, the 8 Air Force red.

I thought was was interesting in this spot because you know, I've

when he's when he's been able to not just sit out front and and

get an absolute blazing pace like he did last year in I

forget what it might have been this race actually, where he

just went out and, you know, just basically was, was suicidal

on on that pace. You know, when he's a little bit

more relaxed and and he's forwardly placed.

I, I think he's just a different horse.

Obviously, you know, I, I still think that the horses that get 6

1/2 at Santa Anita can usually get a mile.

So I, I kind of like him is kind of sitting at that stalking trip

here. But once again, this is the one

that hasn't, hasn't 1 going a mile in in a bit.

So, you know, you're getting 8:00 to 1:00 on that one.

And then the 10 astronomer I think is, you know, I, I think

he was a little, little snake bit in there in, in the

Seabiscuit last year. And I think that race would

basically beat anybody, anybody's best except for beyond

brilliant from like 2022. So I, I think he's in here with

a, with a really big shot. And, you know, Kimura I think is

another jock who rides the, the turf here very, very well.

So yeah, it, it, it's always tough with these conditions,

right? You get horses you're, you're

looking at horses that haven't won a stakes race in a year and

all of a sudden you're just like, you see these horses that

are keep running in second or, or winning an allowance races.

So I, I think it's pretty tough. But yeah, I I like the I like

the 8-9 and ten in this one. Like John said, this one's

always salty, man. Putting this race together just

always seems to shape up like this.

John, do you think there's a universe in which, if brilliant,

beyond brilliant, excuse me, had won the Seabiscuit Handicap, he

would have just gone off to stud and this actually wouldn't even

have been an option? You know, I, I don't know what

the story is there. And I, I know John Sheriffs.

I'm going to ask him, hey, what'd you do, lose him in the

field? What happened here?

Yeah, he hits the board of the Breeders Cup and then wins the

Sea Biscuit. Like is is he gone then?

You know what I mean? Something like that, yeah.

Yeah, I don't know if there was just no, maybe maybe he's

infertile, maybe you know, or maybe just you could be no, no

interest in the no interest from breeders.

So there are 1,000,000 reasons why it didn't happen.

But you know, again, the fact that he's back, he, he must OK,

he must have been OK to put in training.

But that's a long wait and that that's a lot of bills to get

here. It sure is.

We move on to the late pick four, another maiden special for

two year olds. We're going 5 furlongs on the

dirt there. This is for Cal Bread or sired

in Race 8 here. As I said, starts late pick 4

here. A couple of second timers,

frankly, that have started at Santa Anita in this one as well.

Josh, we'll go to you here first.

Did you land on a horse with some experience or a first time

here? I kind of landed on a horse with

with some experience, I think the three Max Chow here for for

Steve Knapp and Thiago Pereira. You know, I always like to see

these young horses that have passed some horses.

So I think the three, you know, kind of had a had a start, you

know, was able to get out in the start, kind of got steady a

little bit and, you know, was able to kind of finish a little

bit and speed figure seems to, you know, seems to kind of match

up with what some of these other horses have run.

So if we look for a step forward there, I, I think he he's in

there with a shot. Actually, I, I like all three of

the inside horses. I think the two no joke.

Antares is another one, you know, young horse that's past

other horses that has been working pretty consistently

here. And yeah, you know, when I, I

think a lot of times with these, you know, 2 year old, 3 year old

early races, one of the hardest things to teach a horse is to be

able to pass another one. So I, I just always move up

horses that kind of have that experience.

And then when I'm thinking about speed, I think the one Thirsty

Rebel is, I mean, looking at the the work pattern, this looks

like a horse that's going to want to get out of the gate and

get out of the gate fast. So I I think this might be your

speed in this race because there really isn't a ton of of speed

in this race here. Maybe the 10 moonshiner.

But now, now you're coming from all the way the outside post

that to try and crossover. I think thirsty rebel is going

to have an easier chance trying to maybe get get into the lead

there. So I like the 1-2 and three in

the spot. About that, John, that's also my

password if you ever need something.

You mentioned the rail earlier at Del Mar.

Would it affect a horse like Thirsty Rebel here coming out of

the one? Because I agree with Josh, if

you look at the works, especially from the gate, this

is one that's popping out ready to go.

Would be 1. You would probably want to use

if the rail's live. Well, at, at 5 furlongs, they go

into that term pretty quick and it's, it's not as important at 5

furlongs as it would be at six or 6 1/2.

And I've seen the videos and I said he's he's quick.

Thirsty Rebel will leave the gate running.

He's got speed and he'll fight you too.

So I think he's the right horse in here.

I, I just think No Joke and Terrace we saw last time in his

debut didn't have a whole lot of speed.

So there's going to be some room for Thirsty Rebel to work.

As long as he breaks clean. I think he's going to get to the

lead. He's going to hit, hit the turn

1st and that's always a good thing with two year olds.

I do think No Joke and Terrace is going to get bad.

I don't think 6:00 to 1:00 is right.

I think he'll probably be more like 4-7 to two.

He finished up well last time. He's going to be on a lot of

horses to watch lists that are coming up here.

But that lack of speed, it always worries me in these two

year old races. So I I like Thirsty Rebel to win

and No Joke and Terrace. I think we'll, you know, we'll

be in the mix, especially late. If they start coming back, look

for the chestnut to come running.

And that outside horse Moonshiner that Josh mentioned,

he, he was a little bit unlucky last time.

He did all The Dirty work, put all the speed away and got

nailed right on the money. Now there were two races for two

year olds that day. He comes out of the much slower

division. This race was almost, you know,

second and a half, two seconds slower than the other division.

So I don't know how strong a race it was, but he ran well.

So he's outside, he's got speed, he's got, he should be able to

clear over and and get a trip. But I think I have to catch #1

Thirsty Rebel. I agree.

I went 1-3 and four here. I think forever Ben is really

interesting out of the Carla Gaines barn, second time runner.

She's having a sneaky good start to the year too.

Actually, first half of the year.

Juan Hernandez gets the mount here.

We make the switch from Tyler Bayes to him.

I love that upgrade and so I think that one's an absolute

must watch in this spot as well. A busy, busy start to the late

pick four there. Remember they have moved those

later wagers to Del Mar's wagering menu as well.

So the late pick 3 is a $3 minimum with a 15% take out.

It is a fun bet. If you are a pick three player

man, save a little bit of money for the end of the day, or heck,

just follow our bets and you know you'll be fine.

You know, pick play these plays and you want plenty of money for

the pick three. But that does start in this race

here and it is the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap, $200,000 on

the line. This is Phillies who are three

years old in this one and obviously if it's a handicap for

three-year olds, that's based on a success.

So often times in these races I look for the horse carrying the

most weight, John Leno. Guess what?

That's the favorite here. That's thought process and

that's Phil Dapato and that's Hector Barrios.

Very, very impressive in an allowance last out.

Oh yeah. By the way, last year as a two

year older only loss was to Lake Victoria Nitrogen in the

Breeders Cup. And so I think a very worthy

favorite here in a very unsurprising winter.

She crosses first. Absolutely, and there's a lot of

speed in this race. Louis, you've got #7 jungle

piece who's got one way to go, the far outside #9 silent Law

for Bob Baffert. She's going to have to leave

from the outside gate now. We saw thought process go wire

to wire last time, but she also set off the pace in her races at

Del Mar last summer. I don't think she's speed crazy.

She was just so much better than those Phillies last time.

They just put her on the lead and toured around.

It looked like a workout. She's really good and I think

she's coming into this race super.

I don't think she's going to be on the lead this time.

I think Hector Barrows can just kind of get her off the bid a

little bit, let those outside horses clear, sit in stock and I

just think she's the best Philly in here.

She's a single to me in that late pick four and late pick

five. If she does get caught up in the

speed duel up front, keep an eye on number one Will, then.

This is a Philly that I don't think.

I don't think she liked the Churchill Downs turf last time.

Her California race has been very good.

She's already won a stakes race on the Delmar turf and she's the

one footer that can sit back, let everybody do all the damage

and and try and pick up the pieces.

First ride for Mike Smith for this horse.

So you know, I would just tell him sit to the quarter pole

angle out and see what you got. I saw Josh's reaction and I'm

trying to figure out which speed he's all excited about.

Is it jungle at Piece? Are you excited about that

horse, Josh? No, I actually don't like any of

the speeds in this race. You know, I and I do think, you

know, that that's my the big reason I'm kind of against

thought process in here now. You know, like John said last

year was able to sit, you know, just off the pace, but that was

also a kind of a moderate pace. And it does look like we're

going to get a probably a fast pace in this race.

I love the one Will then you know, MM Smith is a he's a he's

a funny guy. When you know you, you look at

horse racing circles, you know, a lot of people think, OK, he

can ride, he can ride the Baffert horses on the speed,

right. He can ride the speed horses.

But I think he's sneaky good on the turf, especially when it's a

it's it's a tracking type one run closer, or I mean, heck,

even a speed type. He gave what was it, Cabo Spirit

a couple of months back. He gave a masterful ride on that

one to win to upset a nice stakes race.

But you know, and Mike Smith's at the point in his career where

if he doesn't think he's got a shot, he doesn't have to get up.

So the fact that he lands here, I, I don't know if you can name

more than ten horses that actually do like the Churchill

Downs turf course. So, you know, the the fact that

he didn't run all that well on the Churchill Downs course, you

know, it doesn't really bother me.

You look at his, you know, the last three races before that.

This is a horse that had been improved every single time going

out there. I really, really like Will then.

And then I also like the horse just to his outside Casalu here,

the other Baffert horse, and this is 1.

You know that that's been what was sprinting and and showed

some speed. But this is another one.

You know, Kimura rode this horse 2 back and, you know, that speed

was kind of fast and Kimura sat just off of it and made that one

run and was able to win in what was the career best for this

horse off a bit of a layoff here.

But but you know, we Bob knows how to get a horse ready off a

layoff. And you know, it, it seems like

like more and more we're starting to see him, you know,

pop up in these turf, these turf races, which I'm sure is

starting to annoy some people in Southern California.

But yeah, you know, I, I think I think that this is a horse

that's in here with a with a bit of a shot.

You know, you're getting 6 to 1. And I think, you know, with the

the fact that he's got this other horse, the 9 in here, you

know, maybe he's trying to to get a little bit more speed into

this race for for his two the the two other horses that kind

of like as long shots the the three Miso fancy, I think it was

interesting. Speed figure wise needs to

improve. But you know, you look at the

last two races, when this horse has got pace in front of it,

this horse can close. So I thought Miso fancy was

interesting in here. And then the 8 forensic flavor,

same kind of thing. This is a horse that when is

able to kind of get some of that the, you know, that speed in

front of it can sit just off and, and win, you know, won the

honeymoon last time out. Drayton stays aboard here.

He knows the horse and, you know, he knows that this he's

going to keep this horse outside and keep this horse out of the,

the, you know, the, the, the traffic in the middle there and

make that one run. And yeah, I, I think we just the

amount of pay signed on here. I think I think horses like the

three and the eight are very, very interesting at big prices.

But I I think the one and the two are probably my top picks in

here. Move into the late double.

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play the late double $5 minimum on this one.

Again, a very friendly 15% take out on this.

Love a good $5 double. John.

Not going to lie, I miss when it closed with a $4000 claimer.

Golden Gate Fields we will be that but race 8.

Race 10, Excuse me is back on the dirt here.

It is an optional claimer $81,000 in the purse were going

a mile. Tis secure lands on the inside

Josh at 5:00 to 2:00 for Bob Baffert and this is the lightest

race of these horses but seems to be the class.

Yeah, You know, I, I didn't really know what to do with the

1. You know, ran in the slop, ran

kind of evenly in that that race that goal oriented ended up

winning and then it looks like they've guilted the horse since

then. So, you know, are we going to

see a little bit of improvement off that speed figure wise?

I think at least on time for me, he's going to need a little bit

of help. I do think he can win this race.

I'm not thrilled about the price.

I I think there's two horses at least on the morning line that

are a little bit longer that are, are more interesting.

I think the eight indispensable, you know, I think he was running

in some some really, really nice races the end of the year last

year came off the layoff here and you know, didn't do much

running. But you know, first time, first

start in 2025 off of, you know, six months, 6-7 month layoff

there. You know, kind of kind of cross

the line through that. If this horse can get back to

any of the races it was running at the end of his three-year old

season, I think he's going to be very tough to beat in here.

And then the other, the only other horse I liked was the 10

horse brazenly. And this is another horse that

you know, I I think is going to want some kind of pace in front

of him to kind of close into and it it does look like you got a

couple of speed horses in the two the six and the nine signed

up here. So, you know, if if we start

seeing, you know, the outside kind of being good or, or we

start seeing that maybe speed tracks playing really fair

depending on who you ask on Twitter, depends on what the

tide is like at Del Mar. But yeah, I I think the 10

brazingly can can maybe a surprise at 8:00 to 1:00 if we

get a little bit of a pace meltdown upfront.

I actually happen to like Lyle's song just to his Inside I I

actually think that's an interesting entry here.

John, where did you land? I'm on Lyle's song too.

This is a horse that coming off the layoff last time he missed

the break, he rushed up, got caught between horses, he never

got a breather and he got tired. And that's understandable.

He had won his first two starts like a nice horse and he's come

back to training well out of that.

He's he's another one who's been gelded.

So he's a first time gelding. He's got enough speed to put

himself in the race, but he doesn't have to be on the lead.

And I think with the flat mile at Delmar, the, the speed horses

go hard in that first turn, the low position.

Now we expect #2 Varney to go the three Concord Bridge.

Josh mentioned Tranche, There's going to be some speed in here.

I think Leo Song, as long, as long as he breaks, he might have

laying 3rd, 4th, 5th on the outside stalking.

And I think that's the right trip here.

And you know, he was bet last time.

He's going to be an overlay on Saturday.

This is the time to try him. He's got a race under his belt

and you're going to have value at the windows.

So he's to play. To me, I'm not sure the one

horse 2 secure wants two turns. He's kind of flat down.

Both the route races he's been gelded and and even in the

workouts he kind of waits on horses a little bit.

I don't know if they figured out really what he wants to do yet.

So until they do, I'm going to stay away.

I think of the two Bob Baffert horses, maybe Varney might be a

little bit more live. He didn't want the mile on an

eighth in the Los Alamitos Derby.

Again, he's facing older horses here, but the flat mile is going

to be better for him. And I think if Kazushi Kumura

really sends Varney, he's going to hit the first turn in front

and you put a Bob Baffert horse in the lead, now you got to go

get him, and that's not easy to do.

Not easy to do at Del Mar. We'll move on to the final race

here. But again, thanks to the two

guys next to me on point the wrong way.

That's the way I want to play John Ledo.

He's with thoroughbred LA John. How do people listen?

Out here in LA, it's 8:30 AM, but it's thoroughbred la.com.

On the Internet, you can catch us and these shows are archived

there and again. 9:00 to 10:00 AM Pacific Saturdays. 8:00 to

10:00 AM Pacific Sundays. Easily amongst the Mount

Rushmore of horse racing radio in this country.

Really appreciate John jumping on today.

Josh, where do people find you? Yep, on the wrong lead.com or on

the wrong lead on YouTube you can find us on, you know, any of

your podcast apps. We do shows covering, you know,

stakes races on the weekends, live streams.

We do Hong Kong, a lot of actually Hong Kong racing we

cover here. And we're going to start doing I

think a show on the the late pick three at Del Mar Sunday

night, you know, get that old get out late pick 3 for

everybody who's trying to end up a little little money in their

pocket there for the the last kind of big racing for the

weekend. So.

There you go, that $3 minimum. There is a $0.50 super high five

in the closing race at Del Mar on Saturday.

It is a one mile on the turf optional claimer here, $81,000

in the purse. Here's for Phillies and mares

essentially that have never won above the $21,000 level here.

Wide open if John, if the the morning line maker is right

here, who'd you land on? Well, you look at this race and,

and first of all #8 Cameron Slaw has been entered back against

the boys on Sunday by Neil Dreisel, so she won't run.

So you can scratch the 8 horse out of here that gets #13

laudatory into the race. But looking at the field,

there's no speed. And I think #11 Rosalie May is

the one that benefits from this. She found 9 furlongs just a few

steps too far last time, got rundown in the shadow of the

wire. She cuts back to a mile one.

Enders can either put her on the lead or they can track either

one. She's going to get first jump on

the other horses here and I think you know, I think she's a

fair price is I think it's seven to two or three to one anywhere

around there is just about right.

So made for me. The scratch that gets a lot of

Tori in the race helps her. She ran super coming off the

layoff last time, ran second, got beat a neck against the same

kind of horses. She had a fast pace to set her

up that time. She's not going to get the same

pace today, but she's getting better with every start and for

me, the horse to try and beat maybe #7 Quick Brown Fox, I I

yeah, she's been bad every time and she's kind of been

disappointing. She ran OK down the hill last

time. She should like 2 turns on

grass. I just don't trust her and then

so I think she'll be too old price for me to really take the

shot. I think Rosalie May gets

everything her way in the last race.

Some of you need lives, but our guy Steve wants to know Josh,

your bourbon guy. What's in the Glencairn tonight?

I have, I have Blanton's tonight.

So just, yeah, so last time I was in Louisville that that was

the, that was the bourbon of the day at at Buffalo Trace.

So was with my wife. And so we got, we brought back 2

bottles and then we got lucky at Mcter's.

We got to do the bottle your own barrel strength Mcter's bottle,

which was really nice. So yeah, just getting warmed up

for our stream that's going to kick off here in a couple

minutes. So I got the bourbon going all.

Right. Give us your quick pick then

bud. I know you got to go.

Yeah, You know, I, I think I saw this race very similar to John.

I think the seven or 11 are probably your likely pacesetters

in here, probably your 11's a little bit more likely because

you just see more consistent speed from that horse.

But you know, with the seven being drawn a little bit inside

of that horse has shown some speed on dirt and, you know, has

been at least kind of forward on these turf sprints.

So maybe maybe you see a little bit of speed out of the seven.

So that's kind of where I landed.

I think the four she's a Joker is another one that might

benefit from the fact that we got kind of a slow pace.

And you know, I'm going to a race at Santa Anita probably

about 6 back where there was a bit of a slow pace.

And you know, then Juan Hernandez was riding this horse,

got the horse involved early and was able to win by by a length

and 1/2 in that race by kind of just keep getting this horse

involved a little early. So I think if if Vinnie

Schevenel can get this horse, you know, kind of going and

involved in the race early, I think that this horse has got a

chance of surprise at 5:00 to 1:00.

And then the only other horse I kind of I took a look at was the

number two fondest dream. You know, this is a horse that

was brought over from overseas off a win goes goes a mile there

and you know, just I everything kind of went wrong there a

little bit. You know, didn't really it

didn't really run all that well. But coming off that long layoff,

I see Richard, I see Richard Baltus in a turf race at 15 to

1. You get Thiago Pereira aboard,

who is no stranger to just blowing up the tote board at any

random time. I think that this is a horse

that if he's able to kind of improve and get in Lasix for the

first time here as well, which you know, he was running the

stakes last time. I I think he got a lot of things

going here that that at least make me want to make me want to

take a closer look at this one. You know, if if we see maybe

that closer to 15 point improvement coming across here

first time as a three-year old getting Lasix for the first

time. I think that, you know, he fits

right in here. The only kind of I guess concern

is last time he was coming from way out of it.

There's not really going to be any speed here.

So I think this is a horse that's good that TI was going to

have to get going kind of early. But I think at 15 to one he's at

least worth a flyer. Well, there you go.

Well, Josh, John, really appreciate both of you jumping

on tonight. Really, frankly a really great

audience as well. I appreciate everybody hanging

out with the show. Josh has got to run and do a a

better podcast than this one. So go have fun, get out.

It's going to be good stuff. And then John, I'm so frankly,

and I and I mean this because I don't have racing in my town

right now. I'm I'm very jealous that you

get to go right down the street and just have Del Mar right now.

But I'm also really happy because I know that it it is.

It is a special spot for you for sure.

It's terrific. I, I really enjoy going there.

And you know, we had that six month run in Santa Anita and it

gets a little tedious at the end.

We had a little break going to Los Alamitos.

So this is, it's kind of refreshing and it kind of jump

starts all the horsemen too. They're happy to get someplace

different. You get out here, the weather is

good. It's going to be in the mid 70s

tomorrow and clear as a bell. So, you know, they just order it

up and you get that screenshot if you're watching the satellite

feed, the show, the shop from the end of the grandstand over

the beach and you look at that and say, well, that might be a

good place to go to the races. Trust me, it is.

It really is a Haskell. Can anybody be journalism?

I don't think so. I you know he and he and the

Sovereignty have been the best 2-3 year olds so far this year.

I don't see it changing. Keep an eye on the Bob Babver

horse. Goal oriented.

He is training like a beast and don't be surprised if they put

him on the leaf in the outside post that he's he's the X card.

He's got some improvement in him.

Interesting. All right.

Well, John, thanks so much. We'll catch you out there in LA.

Thanks. All right.

Thank you. No.

Problem. Here we go, Lee is John Lindo.

Join us here on Socal Saturdays presented by Amwager and

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Get in with them. Welcome into my glorious hotel

that appear in New Jersey ahead of the Haskell.

By the way, 11:00 AM Eastern Time right where you're

watching. You can watch a preview full

Haskell day, my Co, my colleague Sean Collins alongside and

that'll be the result with thank you.

Thank you so, so much for hanging out with us.

We actually had about 2200 of you tonight hanging out with the

program across all of the different platforms.

We'll get you next week, booked out Saturday.