Gandolf
Leader of the Van Buren Boys
Quick overview of the five races on Friday, which are all 2 year old races. A couple of years ago they made Friday futures day and moved the older mare races onto the Saturday card. I kinda liked it better when the ladies had most of the races Friday and the Distaff ended the day, but oh well. Watch out for track biases at Delmar, sometimes the rail is dead and other teams speed is golden. Races today and tomorrow should give clues.
Race 6 - Five furlongs on the turf - usually an American specialty, this year half the field ships in from Europe for their first US race. Speed numbers favor Averly Jane and Derrynane, but Twilight Gleaming and Vertiginous have back class from Royal Ascot that sticks out like a sore thumb. Armor and Hierarchy also have nice form and have beaten some of the best sprint fields this year. Pretty wide open race.
Race 7 - Juvenile fillies, 1 1/16 mile - Echo Zulu has the pace edge and has run the best races in this small field. If you don't trust her then Juju's Map and Tarabi look must interesting. For multi-race bets though I think this will be the popular place to narrow.
Race 8 - Juvenile fillies turf, 1 mile - Another race with a strong European group, there's four that are tough to separate, Cachet, Hello You, Malavath and Miss En Scene. Koala Princess has the class to hang with these but will be trying to turns for the first time. Cairo Memories has continually improved and is 2 for 2 at two turns. And Turnerloose actually could get loose, is 3 for 3 at two turns and turns back in distance here, so she should be fit. Another wide open affair.
Race 9 - Juvenile, 1 1/16 mile - Cornich and Jack Christopher appear to stand out here, with the golfer in me attracted also to Pinehurst. If there's a pace meltdown and closers are getting a fair shake then Command Performance could be interesting.
Race 10 - Juvenile turf, 1 mile - Albahr, Dubawi Legend and Modern Game appear to be a notch above the others here. Albahr is 2 for 2 at the distance. Others that have had success at the mile are Mackinnon (3 for 3), Tiz the Bomb (2 for 2) and Dakota Gold (1 for 1).
Race 6 - Five furlongs on the turf - usually an American specialty, this year half the field ships in from Europe for their first US race. Speed numbers favor Averly Jane and Derrynane, but Twilight Gleaming and Vertiginous have back class from Royal Ascot that sticks out like a sore thumb. Armor and Hierarchy also have nice form and have beaten some of the best sprint fields this year. Pretty wide open race.
Race 7 - Juvenile fillies, 1 1/16 mile - Echo Zulu has the pace edge and has run the best races in this small field. If you don't trust her then Juju's Map and Tarabi look must interesting. For multi-race bets though I think this will be the popular place to narrow.
Race 8 - Juvenile fillies turf, 1 mile - Another race with a strong European group, there's four that are tough to separate, Cachet, Hello You, Malavath and Miss En Scene. Koala Princess has the class to hang with these but will be trying to turns for the first time. Cairo Memories has continually improved and is 2 for 2 at two turns. And Turnerloose actually could get loose, is 3 for 3 at two turns and turns back in distance here, so she should be fit. Another wide open affair.
Race 9 - Juvenile, 1 1/16 mile - Cornich and Jack Christopher appear to stand out here, with the golfer in me attracted also to Pinehurst. If there's a pace meltdown and closers are getting a fair shake then Command Performance could be interesting.
Race 10 - Juvenile turf, 1 mile - Albahr, Dubawi Legend and Modern Game appear to be a notch above the others here. Albahr is 2 for 2 at the distance. Others that have had success at the mile are Mackinnon (3 for 3), Tiz the Bomb (2 for 2) and Dakota Gold (1 for 1).