Horse Racing: Today at Del Mar, July 16

Race 1 – 1 mile, Purse $26,000, Claiming $12,500, 3-year-olds and up

1 Candy for Debbie – First race of meet always starts in front of the grandstand; I like a rail post in 2-turn mile races, dirt or turf.

9 Dress Code – Another factor is no more synthetics, real dirt; this horse would move way up if the carpet fibers were still in place.

Long Shot – 10 American Act

Race 2 – 6 furlongs, Purse $31,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

2 No Tricks for Jack – Would be neat if Iggy Puglisi could bag a race on opening day for Peter Miller; it won’t be for any lack of trying.

5 Always a Chance – Solid dirt resume and drop in class point to a live wire; I expect Tyler Baze to have a good summer on the shore.

Long Shot – 6 Two Step Flor

Race 3 – 7 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

3 Vartan – This is as big a jockey switch as one will ever see; expect Corey Nakatani to be focused as he needs to make things happen.

11 Pippaguy – I don’t expect a lot of favorites to win on opening day; showed promise in debut and has been pointed for Del Mar.

Long Shot – 8 Stellar Act

Race 4 – 1 1/8th miles (turf), Purse $75,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 3-year-olds and up

6 Texas Ryano – Ran like a short horse in last off a 11-month hiatus; should be a nice tightener for a race they really want to win today.

1 Infinite Magic – Michael Stidham is a tremendous horse trainer; I expect his stock to compete, not get outclassed, during this meet.

Long Shot – 3 Cyrus Alexander

Race 5 – 5 furlongs, Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, Fillies, 2-year-olds

5 Late ‘n Left – Ran well in debut and was well backed at the windows too; the one race of experience can only help her.

6 Miles Sister – Closed for a good third to the chalk in her debut; green horses will run like that, slow early but fast late.

Long Shot – 2 Alicanto

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $36,000, Claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

10 Nextdoorneighbor – Has been as consistent as any horse on the SoCal circuit; rarely runs a bad one and is well spotted in here.

3 Ranulf – Second race off the claim by Mark Glatt; has back class to run a big race and win at a square price.

Long Shot – 2 Basmati  

Race 7 – 1 mile, Purse $40,000, Starter allowance $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

2 Derby Glass – Doug O’Neill ended the Los Alamitos meet on a high note; suspect his barn is ready to fire big this meet too.

8 Fight Thru – Won a sharp MSW race last time out; facing winners for the first time is a big step up in class.

Long Shot – 5 Northern Iowa

Race 8 – 1 mile (turf), $100,000 Oceanside, 3-year-olds

10 Papacoolpapacool – Had a rugged trip in the Penn Mile, was stuck in traffic most of the way; he’s back home where he should excel.

11 Soul Driver – Hate the post but like the horse very much; turf course was widened, we’ll see how it helps the parking lot posts.

Long Shot – 9 Anytime Anyplace

Race 9 – 6 furlongs, Purse $70,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

6 Dreamologist – This is beautiful pedigree for a FTS; in the right hands of HOF trainer Richard Mandella and hot riding Flavien Prat.

2 Never Ends – New jockey to the circuit James Graham gets a leg up from the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer; chance to show his skills.

Long Shot – 7 Illuminant

Race 10 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $72,000, Allowance, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up

12 Unusually Green – Closers did well in turf routes here last year; Rafael Bejarano is not loaded on opening day, but he always manages.

1 It Is Living Water – Chance to save every inch of ground over this newly widened turf course; Drayden Van Dyke no longer has the bug.

Long Shot – 7 Benba

Best Bet – 6 Texas Ryano (race 4)

Los Alamitos Sunday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 17/5/$29.60; Long Shots, 8/2/$17.00; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Los Alamitos Final Totals – 129/38/$236.00; Long Shots, 64/10/$110.60; Best Bets, 8/5/$14.60

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #2 Piccolo Flats (5/1) in race 6 at Belmont Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Sunday, So Noted won at Belmont Park paying $3.80 to win, $2.40 to place and $2.10 to show. Stats – 97/67/$517.40; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick