Horse Racing: Today at Del Mar, July 25

By Richard Eng

Post Time 2:05 p.m.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $28,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies, 3-year-olds

2 Dancing Lute – Claimed by Bill Morey off a pair of NoCal wins; key vote is leading rider Rafael Bejarano taking over.

4 Egyptian Femme – Sliding down the claiming ladder to face the worst group of her life; Craig Dollase adding blinkers on.

Long Shot – 6 Devious Chic

Race 2 – 5 furlongs, Purse $75,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 2-year-olds

8 Exotic Behavior – Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry and both appear capable of winning; this one has Rafael Bejarano up.

2 Cadron – This Baffert baby is the morning line favorite; Martin Garcia has the ride on this $370K purchase.

Long Shot – 5 L T Reckless

Race 3 – 1 1/16th miles (turf), Purse $53,000, Claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up

3 Lil Bit O’Fun – Tom Proctor with a ship and win horse; like the way he and Gary Stevens have teamed up, like the old days.

4 Shadow Runner – Claimed by Richrd Baltas and spotted well to win at first asking; Rafael Bejarano rides all chalk today.

Long Shot – 1 Facoltoso

Race 4 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $25,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

9 Afflication – Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to the bottom; more chalk mounts for Rafael Bejarano.

3 Mojave Desert – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; also adding blinkers on too.

Long Shot – 5 Matagot

Race 5 – 6 furlongs, Purse $24,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

5 Saturday Nite Wish – Claimed by Ted West off a good second versus tougher; NW2L tag today for $16K instead of $25K.

7 Briteness – Ran a solid second in last at this exact class; more than capable of improving a step, which could upset.

Long Shot – 1 Sugar Spice

Race 6 – 1 3/8th miles (turf), Purse $77,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

2 Kid Dreams – A ship and win horse for Neil Drysdale; odds are the Woodbine stakes are a lot tougher than today’s allowance.

7 Danderek – Always respect a claim by the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer; first thing he does is leg up Rafael Bejarano.

Long Shot – 8 Lumberyard Jack

Race 7 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $85,000, Allowance, 3-year-olds and up

5 Castaway – Bob Baffert has been winning all the 2-YO races, why not this?; like the cut back in distance today too.

6 Isn’t He Clever – The ship and win horses from New Mexico have run lights out; the other winners came from Peter Miller barn.

Long Shot – 4 Chiloquin

Race 8 – 1 1/16th miles (turf), Purse $75,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

8 Marcyjane – Been away 5-months but showed some talent back when; Julien Leparoux looking more and more comfortable out west.

9 Dow Diva – After many close but no cigar finishes, Doug O’Neill taking the blinkers off; Kevin Krigger on a donut so far.

Long Shot – 1 Hot and Pleasing

Best Bet – 2 Kid Dreams (race 6)

Del Mar Wednesday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/6/$44.20; Long Shots, 7/1/$14.00; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Del Mar Totals – 103/29/$221.60; Long Shots, 50/6/$67.40; Best Bets, 6/3/$11.60

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #5 Willet (2/1) in race 4 at Saratoga. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Wednesday, Tapicat ran third at Saratoga paying $2.80 to show. Stats – 121/78/$588.30; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick