FRANKLY SPEAKING - DEL MAR, AUGUST 11th

Pitino in the house...and 2yo Cal-breds!

The Savior of St. John’s

It’s funny how Terri and I know a lot of the same track people—but in different ways. As I’ve mentioned before, Terri is a denizen of the Turf Club, while I like to mix things up with the hoi polloi down at Quigley’s Corner. The few times I do go up to the Turf Club, however, I’m always greeted by a friendly face—and that’s the main bartender, Tracy. Of course, Terri knows Tracy—who has been working at the track for the past 38 years—because she’s the gatekeeper at the bar as soon as you walk into the Turf Club.

But I know Tracy in a different way. For those of you out there who are old enough to remember Surfside, the off-track facility where all of us degenerates would go to wager during the off-season, long before the advent of ADWs and remote wagering, you would remember Tracy from the bar in the Saddle Club. The Saddle Club was the “fancy” part of the facility—you had to pay $10 for a table and the privilege of losing your money.

Today, Tracy was kind enough to send some of her well-heeled patrons down to see the Newcomers’ Seminar before the races, so when Terri went up to the Turf Club after a few races to say hi and thank Tracy, Tracy was busy catering to the gentlemen in the photo above.

I’m sure most of you recognize the man to Tracy’s right. That’s Rick Pitino, legendary college basketball coach and lover of Thoroughbreds. He’s standing there with fellow members of his 2013 Louisville Cardinals coaching staff, the same team who won the NCAA tournament that year (and who was later stripped of the title, but that’s not my story to tell).

I did some Googling, and I think I’ve been able to ID two of the other guys in the picture. The giant of a man to Tracy’s left is Wyking Jones, currently an assistant at Washington, while the man next to Wyking Jones is Kevin Keatts, currently the head coach of North Carolina State.

[If anyone out there knows the gentleman standing next to Pitino, I’d love to find out his name.]

I know Pitino has bounced around a bit the last few years since leaving Louisville in 2017, but there’s no denying the man can coach. As a native New Yorker, who grew up rooting for Chris Mullin and the St. John’s Redmen (now Red Storm) when I was kid, I was thrilled when I heard that Pitino was going to take over the reins starting this year. If there’s anyone who can get St. John’s back to their glory days of Lou Carnesecca, it’s Pitino.

Plus, how can you not root for a guy who has supported the Thoroughbred industry for as long as Pitino has. He might be a rich and famous basketball coach who hangs out in the Turf Club, but deep down, he’s still one of us.

Spot Play

I did say caveat emptor with Thursday’s Spot Play, since I hated the card and had no strong opinion anywhere throughout the day, but I decided to talk a bit about #4 Trouble N Paradise (8/1) in Race 7. I said that she was probably in over her head, but trainer Sergio Morfin has been sending out live horses, and I thought this gal might be able to outrun her odds. Well, she did outrun her odds…but only for half a race. She made the lead against better horses, and for a brief second around the turn, I thought she might be able to get separation and be in with a shot to wire them—but she started to shorten stride as the entered the lane, and she tired badly. I think she was worth a shot at her 9/1 price, but I certainly didn’t go heavy in that race.

            Today’s eight-race Friday card isn’t too much better for finding the right spot, but I did my horse-by-horse analysis for Race 7 today, and I thought there could be a tiny whiff of value here in a questionable $32K/N2L conditional-claimer for fillies and mares going one mile on the lawn with the rails at 24-feet. The morning-line favorite, #8 Corporal Violette (Ire) (5/2), is definitely the one to beat as a big class-dropper, but it’s not like she’s exactly impressed since coming to the States. I thought #5 ABHITA (6/1) and #3 DOWNBURST (6/1) both had chances to upset the apple cart. You can read my full analysis here: Frank Scatoni Daily Picks at Del Mar (dmtc.com).

The Feature

As mentioned in yesterday’s write-up, there was no traditional Thursday feature, but the contest race, Race 8, a tough $32K/N1Y restricted claimer, was a pretty competitive one. I did the analysis for the Del Mar website, and I came up with #1 LIGHT FURY (10/1) as my top pick. He sat comfortably off the pace, angled out while making a move around the turn, and flew home late to finish third. He just had too much to do given the trip he got—but hats off to the winner, Dominant Soul (7/1), who I had exed-out in my write-up because I thought he’d be part of a very quick pace. He was forwardly placed through quick early splits, but he showed some class and was game in victory—and it was nice to see Paula Capestro back in the winner’s circle again. I lost the race, but I love it when small barns win!

            Today’s feature (Race 6) is a very tough renewal of the $125K Graduation, a 5.5-furlong main-track sprint for Cal-bred 2-year-olds. There are some quality juveniles in this field, with not much separating them, so I’m going to let pace decide. A few of the outside horses have a ton of early zip, so I can see them dueling each other into submission, setting it up for #5 SMOKEM EZ (3/1). This horse looked good breaking his maiden back in May at Santa Anita, stalking comfortably and then drawing off to win easily. I can see the same type of trip here, and I’m sure Miyadi has been pointing to this spot since that maiden-breaker.

            If it’s not my horse, then it could be anyone. Bonde has two decent speedsters in here. O’Neill has a talented runner at the rail. Peter Miller has a horse who has a shot after a tough trip last time. And, perhaps, the value of the field would be #8 WILD JEWELS at 12/1 for Steve Specht. I’ll use the Specht horse, and the Miller horse (#3 LAST CALL LONDON at 6/1) in exactas with my top pick, #5 SMOKEM EZ, as well.

Track Trends

I thought the main track was a little more fair today, but speed definitely held well during the early part of the day, and in the one race where a closer one, the race set up perfectly for her—so I won’t go into Friday with any preconceived notions, but if last week was any indication, speed was golden on the main track with the late post (which will be 3:30 p.m. PDT this week).

            The turf course has certainly been way more friendly to speed the last two weeks, most likely because the rails have been out. In the 5-furlong turf sprints, every race but one, from Sunday until the end of the day Thursday, was won wire to wire. That’s not really a big surprise, since speed is always lethal at that short distance, but the first two weeks were way more fair in the turf sprints. Forwardly placed horses have been doing better in turf routes as well, so there isn’t as pronounced of a closer bias going long like there was in the first two weeks. I can’t wait for the rails to get back to 0-feet—I’m going to toss every speedy turf horse going two turns!

***

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!!!