Kentucky Derby Winner Mandaloun Highlights Week 2 Horse Betting at Del Mar

The second weekend of the Del Mar Racetrack horse racing season is a great one. The heralded summer meet outside San Diego is highlighted by the $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes and $300,000 San Diego Handicap on Saturday, both great opportunities for California horse betting enthusiasts and those across the country.

Del Mar’s week starts off with the Fleet Treat Stakes on Thursday and the Daisycutter Handicap on Friday. The $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes headlines the Sunday card.

Post time is 2 p.m.

Here is a look at some of the major races of the weekend and a look back to what Week 1 revealed for bettors.

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Week 2 Horse Race Betting at Del Mar

Daisycutter Handicap

Del Mar’s Daisycutter Handicap will be a dash of five furlongs on its Jimmy Durante Turf Course, which has drawn seven fillies and mares for $100,000. Del Mar’s morning line maker, Jon White, made Leggs Galore the slight 8-to-5 favorite with shipper Twilight Gleaming right behind at 9-to-5.

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Weekend odds will be emerging as the big races get close but some names already speak for themselves.

The biggest of the big will be Country Grammer in the San Diego Handicap. He captured the $12 million Dubai World Cup in March and he’s trained by one of California’s biggest names, Bob Baffert. It will be interesting to see how sharp Country Grammer is after four months away. His Dubai effort would be tough to beat.

Does this look like a big drop down from $12 million? Well, Country Grammer, along with others, will use this race as a springboard to the TVG Pacific Classic in September.

Mandaloun will also in the San Diego Handicap Saturday.

As a 3-year-old, Mandaloun had a unique role in the thoroughbred horse-racing picture last year. He won both the Kentucky Derby and Haskell Stakes by disqualification.

That unusual run was part of a four-race win streak. This year he finished ninth in the Saudi Cup and fourth in the Stephen Foster. His connections hope they found him the right spot.

Tripoli has had two excellent performances at Del Mar. He finished second in this race last year and then won the TVG Pacific Classic. He went on to a not-bad seventh behind Eclipse Award-winning Knicks Go in the Breeders Cup Classic.

Some of the connections are familiar with their opponents.

This field includes There Goes Harvard, Defunded, and Royal Ship. They ran 1-2-3 in the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita. There Goes Harvard slightly outkicked Defunded to win at 8-to-1. Defunded was 5-to-1. Royal Ship was third as the race favorite and Stilleto Boy, 3-to-2, was fourth. This should be an interesting rematch.

Senor Buscado has been away since February 2021 because of injuries and he lost to Mandaloun even when healthy.

The San Diego Handicap is Race 10 on Saturday and is 1 1/16 miles.

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Bing Crosby Stakes Is a Breeders Cup Qualifier

Two races earlier, the Bing Crosby Stakes has a “Win and You’re In” designation for the Breeders Cup (Nov. 4-5).

The 10-horse field is highlighted by:

Horse	Info
Desmond Doss	Coming off six-furlong win in the Thor’s Echo at Santa Anita.
Shaaz	Won at maiden and allowance company. Was 3-3 until getting third in the Grade 3 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star.
American Theorem	Won the Triple Bend, Grade 2, at Santa Anita.
Principle Carlo	Took second at the Triple Bend, Grade 2, at Santa Anita.
Get Her Number	Took third at the Triple Bend, Grade 2, at Santa Anita.
Drain the Clock	Fourth in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Let’s Get Lucky	Has lost six in a row and can’t prevail in claiming company.
Diamond Oops	Hasn’t won in eight straight races. Third in allowance optional claiming at Del Mar in last.
Howbeit	Coming off a sixth in the Pat O’Brien Grade 2.

Eddie Read Stakes

The Eddie Read on Sunday has a price tag of $250,000.

Run for the first time in 1974, it is 1 1/8 miles on the turf during Del Mar’s summer meet. The race is named for late Del Mar Director of Publicity Eddie Read. Wickerr, Fastness, Special Ring, and Acclamation have each won the race twice.

The field will crystallize  as we hit the weekend.

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Del Mar Opened to Big Numbers in Week 1

Del Mar opened with a bang last weekend.

The track sported a stellar daily average handle of $22.35 million, track officials said. The track’s Pick 4 and Pick 5 bets regularly surpassed the $1-million mark in their pools, making them prime targets for multi-bet players. 

Del Mar officials indicated that field size, something we indicated here last week as a revenue driver, propelled the record handle. Del Mar average 10.6 runners per race in competitive fields. It was horse racing at its finest.

Race 2 showed there can be an excellent payout, even in a small field of six.

Movinglikeawinner prevailed at 14-to-1, with a last-to-first run in the homestretch. She Makes Cents, the 7-to-5  favorite, ran second. Big Jolt, at 5-to-2, was third. Tap Me a Text, 8-to-1, was fourth.

It paid surprisingly well. The $2 exacta payout was $101. The $1 trifecta was an impressive  $202.

Having the winner at  14-to-1 was a nice price in a short field. But the exacta and trifecta paid surprisingly well with the 7-to-5 chalk in the second slot. The $1 trifecta paid a remarkable $201.20 and gamblers might have gotten it even by keying the favorite.

Let’s say She Makes Cents, the 7 horse, was your top pick. You  “key” the 7 in the first position with any three other horses to run second and third, in any order. That costs $6.

Take $6 more. “Key” the 7 in the second position with the same three horses. Your key must run second and the combo of other horses must finish first and third, in any order.

This wager only makes sense if bettors believe a longshot can hit the trifecta, along with their top pick. Many gamblers would have put Movinglikeawinner in the ticket, simply because he was the longest shot on the board.

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Race 3 was a beauty for anyone who collected. Twelve-horse field. Turf. Horses able to make up a lot of ground. No short-priced favorites. Nice betting pool. The race  was won by Fearless Girl at 7-to-2. 

Second belonged to Applecross at 23-to-1. Third went to Gillian Elizabeth at 17-to-1. Fourth belonged to Warriors Candy Girl at 25-to-1.

What a dream bottom of the ticket. Look at these prices. The $2 exacta was $138.40. The $1 trifecta paid $786 and the $2 superfecta returned $18,811 or $940 on the 10-cent.

Take a bow if you were anywhere near this. Someone undoubtedly took a stab at horses underneath Fearless Girl, who also paid  well on the win line.,

Race 4 had 13 first-time starters. The $1 super paid more than $6,000. The $1 tri returned more than $1,200.

And in the big race, the San Clemente Stakes, Bellabel triumphed as the 3-to-1 favorite profiled here last week. Sixteen Arches ( 20-to-1), Island of Love (5-to-1), and Lady T  (6-to-1) completed the top four spots.

The exacta paid well at $192. The $1 trifecta was $449 and the 10-cent superfecta paid $290.

These types of results will keep bettors coming back.

This weekend could have more of the same.

Good luck finding your angles, and the pay window.