Frankly Speaking - Del Mar August 10th

Like Savoir-Faire, Joe Harper Is Everywhere...

Savoir Faire…Is Everywhere!

Terri and I have this long-running joke every week during Del Mar.

“Guess who I just saw?” Terri will invariably ask me once we meet up after a few races of doing our own thing.

I always respond: “Joe Harper!” That’s the correct answer, every time, because Terri always seems to be running into Joe Harper no matter where she is at the track.

In fact, we both feel like there must be clones of Joe Harper walking around because Joe really is everywhere. It’s remarkable. I don’t know how the man does it, but for the last several decades, Joe has been the face and embodiment of Del Mar racing—and he’s very good at what he does. Of course, there are certain exclusive spots at the track where you’d expect to see Joe, entertaining high-end guests, shaking hands, kissing babies, and regaling everyone with his hilarious and entertaining stories—but Joe is also out there making the rounds, seeing to it that everything around him is running smoothly. In fact, just the other day, when Terri and I were enjoying our Tanner’s Prime Burger on the third floor of the clubhouse, there was Joe, surrounded by a group of people and holding their attention (as in the photo above).

So let’s talk about Sunday. There Terri and I were in the Turf Club, as guests of Rusty and Debi Brown, who had their talented filly Crazy Hot running in Race 9, the $125K CTBA Stakes. Terri’s friend Annette, who introduced us to Rusty and who is a terrific handicapper, had just put together a group Pick 5 ticket, and we were already 2-for-2 with a 13/1 shot getting home in the first leg.

After rooting home the winner of Race 8, Annette turned to Terri and said, “Let’s go to the paddock for Rusty’s race.” Terri was all too happy to oblige.

Off the ladies went with Rusty, Debi, and their big group of friends, while I decided to stay up at the table to hold down the fort and not mess up the mojo of our Pick 5 ticket. Believe me, I’m the last one to get to the Turf Club and the first one to leave and go back to my spot at The Corner, but you don’t mess up your routine when it comes to multi-race wagers, so I sat there nursing my beer while everyone else went down to see the horses.

And then they all returned. I turned to Terri as she was sitting down, and I asked, “So, how was the paddock?”

“Eh,” Terri shrugged. “It was just the paddock.”

Whoa…whoa…whoa…stop the clock! “Just the paddock!”

Terri can’t go two feet or two minutes at the track without seeing something interesting or running into someone noteworthy. That’s just how Terri is. I call this “Terri Magic.”

“What?” I exclaimed! “You didn’t see anything interesting or run into anyone? I don’t believe it!”

“Nope,” she said, and she shrugged her shoulders again.

“What?” I exclaimed again! “No one? Not even Joe Harper?”

And then Terri’s eyes opened wide, and she started to laugh. “Oh,” she said with a shout. “I did. I did see Joe Harper! I even took a selfie with him.”

We both started dying. As I said, Terri always has something to report back when she is off doing her own thing at the track—and we are always joking about how she always seems to run into Joe Harper.

I thought it was the funniest thing, but Terri did a little introspection. “Wait,” she said to me. “Am I that jaded that I didn’t even mention to you that I took a picture with Joe Harper?”

I didn’t see it that way. “Jaded”? No way. Terri has an amazing sense of wonderment, and I know she will never lose that. It’s such an admirable quality, especially since she continues to show it, even around this grizzled old New York horseplayer.

“Exhausted” is more the way I would describe it. This was late Sunday afternoon after several long days of racing and several weeks in a row of non-stop action. For everyone who comes up to me this meet and says, “Man, Frank, you sure are working really hard,” remember this: Terri is right there with me every step of the way, at every seminar, at every event, working just as hard—if not harder, because she’s also doing so many things behind the scenes.

All I could think of was: how funny would it have been if Joe Harper had gone home that night and sat down for dinner with his wife, Barbara, and she asked: “So, Joe, anything interesting happen today? Did you see anyone?”

“Nope,” Joe might have said.

“What? Nobody?”

“Nope.”

“Not even Terri Marconi?”

“Ah! As a matter of fact…” Then I could see Joe smirking like the cat who ate the canary, pulling out his phone, and showing Barbara the selfie of the two of them together.

Spot Play

We were extremely unlucky with our Spot Play on Sunday, #5 Desoto’s War in Race 2, who ran fourth at 7/1. Talk about a horror trip. I’m not looking to blame the jockey, but there is a reason why Vazquez—who was a pretty darn good jockey when he first came out here to Southern California—is currently only 9 percent this meet. He had about five decisions to make during the running of this race, and he made the wrong one each time.

Here’s the chart comment: “…edged up between runners leaving the far turn then tracked the embattled leaders, checked off heels in upper stretch, altered out and came back on late.” This tells enough of the story to give you an idea that this horse had a terrible trip, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. It was a bad ride from start to finish, so I’ll put this horse on my watch list and live to fight another day!

As for today’s Spot Play…I’ve got nothing good at all, but I will just mention #4 TROUBLE N PARADISE (8/1) in Race 7. This 6-year-old mare seems in above her head against Cal-bred allowance types, but trainer Sergio Morfin has been ridiculous so far this meet, sending out three winners in six starts (along with a place and a show). I expect this one to be in front turning for home, so if the track is playing to speed, she’ll have a shot to outrun her odds.

The Feature(s)

We had two features on Sunday, the aforementioned CTBA Stakes, which was won by the very talented Pushiness, owned by Mike Repole and trained by Michael McCarthy. No, you are not reading “Nick’s Notebook” for Saratoga—you read that right. Mike Repole! Yup, the big-time New Yorker owns a very nice 2-year-old Cal-bred filly, who is probably good enough to beat open company at some point.

            Sunday’s main event was an interesting renewal of the La Jolla (G3), where I was trying to be clever by playing against the top two morning-line choices, one of whom was still a maiden—but those two horses ran one-two. Maltese Falcon (Ire), trained by Leonard Powell, was second choice on the morning-line but went off the tepid 7/2 favorite, and he finally broke his maiden…in a stakes race no less! While Panic Alarm (Ire), the morning-line favorite who was not bet at all at 6/1, ran second. I didn’t have either of those horses for a penny.

            In fact, I liked the other Powell trainee, Zalamo (Fr), who broke outward, lollygagged in last place under Mike Smith, and then swung six wide for a stretch run, where he failed to menace. It wasn’t exactly Smith’s best work, but I can also admit that I was just wrong about this horse. My selection wasn’t very good, and I’m perfectly willing to accept that because today is a new day!

            Hats off to Leonard Powell, however, who continues to dominate on turf this meet.

            Today’s feature…well, there really isn’t a feature today, with no stakes racing on tap for this eight-race Thursday card, but the online contest race, Race 8, makes up in competitiveness what it lacks in quality!

It’s a $32K/N1Y restricted claimer contested at one mile on the lawn (with the rails at 24-feet). I think the 5/2 morning-line favorite, #7 Derecho Dandy, is very vulnerable, so check out what I have to say about each horse at my daily analysis here: Del Mar Handicapper Picks (dmtc.com).

This Week at Del Mar

Always check out the Del Mar events calendar (Del Mar Events Calendar (dmtc.com)) to see what’s going on at the track, but here’s a quick rundown for this week:

--Thursday, 8/10: “Free and Easy” Thursdays

--Friday, 8/11: Graduation Stakes, Happy Hour, and Turf Club Fridays

--Saturday, 8/12: Yellow Ribbon (G2), Sorrento Stakes (G3), and Turf & Surf Barbecue

--Sunday, 8/13: Best Pal (G2), LRF Charity Challenge ($600 Handicapping Contest), Mandatory P6 Payout, Taste of the Turf Club, and King Odie Celebration in Race 7

Handicapping Seminars

Here’s the rundown of seminars this week:

--Thursday (8/10): Newcomers’ Seminar: Newcomers' Seminar (dmtc.com).

--Saturday Handicapping Seminar (8/12) with C. C. Rogers: Weekend Handicapping Seminar (dmtc.com). I’ll also broadcast this live on my Twitter feed @ScatoniSureShot.

--Sunday “Best Bet” (8/13) with Drew Coatney, winner of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge: Best Bet (dmtc.com).

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Be sure to check out www.frankscatoni.com for what’s good every day during the Del Mar meet.

As I always say: Good luck to us…and let’s make some money!!!