Old fashioned bitch session

Mind if we vent for a few? Good. We are going to.

Never mind we have started the opening week at Del Mar without a winner. Yes you are correct. We are now officially 0 for 10 with one horse being in the money. How's that for 'capping? Our lone horse in the money came in the 9th race on Sunday when He Be Fire N Ice ran second, losing a head-bobber on the line at 5/2. Good news is perhaps we are ready to bust out of the slump.

We keep saying it. All we want is a fair and consistent surface to handicap and wager on at Del Mar and thus far it hasn't been the case. Speed holds, then it's a rally-wide biased track. Even the horsemen are split. Some say it's too deep and slow while others say it's too hard and fast. We hope things will turn around this upcoming week or it could be a lean Del Mar meeting.

Get well wishes to Tyler Baze who got nailed behind the gate when his mount tossed her head and hit him in the face. The result was several missing teeth, facial fractures and a eye that was swollen shut. No telling how long he'll be out but it could be the entire Del Mar meeting. Remember last year Tyler missed Del Mar when he broke a finger and wasn't able to hold on to the reins. Incredible bad luck as Tyler was coming off a nice Hollywood Park ending and was starting the Del Mar meeting quickly.

Are we don't bitching yet? Nope.

Can't believe in the stupidity of allowing Patrick Valenzuela a license to ride again here in California. The CHRB agreed to give this troubled rider another license to ride and of course the stipulations are very similar to the ones he's failed to adhere to in the past. Frustrating fact is Valenzuela is a very gifted jock that can do it all. Come from off the pace and he can get a horse to relax on the front end like nobody else. Problem is he keeps messing up and has never come out to publicly admit he has a problem. Like the trainers and owners that continue to ride him, Patrick is in denial. We are sure there will be more to this later on. We are now officially on the P.Val countdown until he misses his first day.

By the way, what's with the stewards now becoming handicappers? Yes, you heard us. Not only are they looking at video tape and deciding if a horse should be disqualified, but they are also figuring out if the horse bothered was cost a position in the race. Trevor was heard making this announcement on Saturday. "While Such and Such did duck in, the incident did not alter the original order of finish" Hey! How do they know? While they admit the foul, evidently they have become professional handicappers now to and can handicap a race. Holy cow! Back in the day if you fouled a horse you came down and were placed behind the horse you fouled. But like everything else, those days are gone.

Okay, a bit more positive news!

Rachel Alexandra looked good on Saturday beating up some average fillies in the Lady's Secret at Monmouth Park. With over $1-million wagered on her to show, Rachel did what she had to do and covered the distance in 1:49 3/5 over a wet strip. her margin of victory was deceiving as she probably could have won by more had she been pushed by Borel. She has now won two straight since losing her first two starts in 2010 and her next race is uncertain.

Readers of this blog and HorseRacing-selections.com clients are reminded to keep an eye on the barn of Bob Baffert this Del Mar meeting. He has another very deep stable of two-year-olds and we should keep seeing  these youngsters run strong races throughout the meeting.

How impressive was Twirling Candy on opening day, taking down the $100,000 Oceanside? The son of Candy Ride is now undefeated from three starts for trainer John Sadler and could either remain at Del Mar or ship out of state for his next start.

The Usual Q.T. continues his winning ways by taking the Grade I $300,000 Eddie Read over the Del Mar lawn. James Cassidy has done a great job with this gelding and while always being a capable trainer, has really impressed us with the way he has handled this gelded son of Unusual Heat. The Usual Q.T. returned $4.80 to his backers and was ridden as usual by Victor Espinoza.

The gutty California-bred Bold Chieftain may have run his last race. The 7-year-old just didn't fire in Sunday's running of the $100,000 California Dreamin' Handicap which was taken by Bruce's Dream at $5.80. Sent off as the 6/5 favorite, Bold Chieftain was never in it and finished up the track under Russell Baze.

Evening Jewel capped off a wonderful weekend for trainer James Cassidy when she won the Grade II $150,000 San Clemente Handicap under Victor Espinoza. Perfectly timed, the daughter of Northern Afleet outran her rivals to return $5.40 and has now won five from 11 lifetime starts.

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Del Mar opens tomorrow

Well, here we go. Another meeting down, another one beginning. Del Mar opens it's summer meeting tomorrow and the track where the turf meets the surf is always a welcome change as a working vacation for horsemen and horse players alike. Seems like a good card but we can't help but wonder how the track is going to play. With the Polytrack being a kind of "bi-polar" surface, it changes in the morning and is completely different when racing begins in the afternoon. All we can suggest is a conservative approach for the first day or so and see how things play out.

Congrats to jockey Joel Rosario and trainer Doug O'Neill for winning the titles at Hollywood Park. Hollywood Park was down in handle and attendance this meeting, which should come as no surprise with not only the economy but the cancellations due to a horse shortage and lack of entries. All sources handle was down a staggering 10%. The track did not announce average on-track attendance and handle figures. The decline in overall handle was close to expectations, according to the track's president, Jack Liebau.

Trainer Bob Baffert is once again deep with promising two-year-olds in his barn this summer and he unleashed a few closing week at Hollywood Park. A Z Warrior was one such promising filly by Bernardini who scored impressively on July 15th in the 5th race under Martin Garcia at $4.40. The filly won nicely for owners Zayat Stables LLC and should be watched as she climbs the ladder.Smash made his debut a winning one and the son of Smart Strike (Mr. Prospector) won scary good as he was green as grass under Martin Garcia for owner Kaleem S Shah. This $400k yearling purchase could be an early KY Derby favorite and is indeed another one that should be watched as he returns and goes through his conditions.

Trainer Kristin Mulhall saddled Westwood Pride to a nice win on Friday evening and this filly by Pleasantly Perfect scored gamely in her second start in the U.S. under Rafael Bejarano for owners Juliana and Rustin Kretz. This filly is another that should be watched when she returns, probably at the Del Mar meeting.

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Final week of racing at Hollywood Park

Hollywood Park wraps up the 2010 Spring/Summer meeting with a four day week on a Thursday through Sunday schedule. Seems like it was only yesterday that Hollywood Park opened the doors to the spring/summer meeting and now horsemen will head down to Del Mar where the turf meets the surf for the 37-day meeting which begins on Wednesday, July 21.

Del Mar is offering a late Pick 4 for a minimum .50 cent play which is a good wager to have to offer the young crowd that often attends the races at Del Mar. This of course will be in addition to the traditional $1 Pick 4.

Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer could be sidelined the remainder of the year due to ankle issues that have prompted his connections to take him out of training, trainer Bill Mott said Sunday. Drosselmeyer will undergo a bone scan later this week.

Lookin At Lucky worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Santa Anita on Saturday, moving the Preakness Stakes winner closer to a potential start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 1.

Trainer Bob Baffert unveiled another promising runner from the barn when the Zayat Stables Z Z Warrior made his debut on Saturday in the 4th race under Martin Garcia. The 3-year-old son of Dixie Union paid $4 to his backers and was a very impressive winner at first asking. He should be followed up the ladder.

Later in the afternoon, the Baffert trained E Z's Gentleman took down the Triple Bend Handicap for owner Arnold Zetcher under Martin Pedroza to provide Pedroza with his 1,000th career win. E Z's Gentleman paid $9.80 and looked good in the win, winning for the 4th time in 15 career starts.

This years Hollywood Gold Cup went to Awesome Gem who was able to overcome a slow pace under David Flores to win the $500,000 Grade I event. Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Craig Dollase finally got his Gold Cup win this year as the son of Awesome Again broke his 0 for 4 drought in 2010.

Dawnie Macho looked good winning the $100,000 Landaluce under Joe Talamo as the 2-year-old daughter of Macho Uno was making her west coast debut for owners Gary and Cecil Barber since a private purchase after breaking her maiden at Arlington Park in stylish fashion. John Sadler appears to have a good on on his hands here.

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Blane Schvaneveldt dead at 76; Global Hunter stable

Blane Schvaneveldt, the winningest trainer in Los Alamitos history and the champion Quarter Horse trainer in the nation 12 times, has died of complications from a heart arrhythmia, his family announced Monday.

Schvaneveldt was hospitalized last Friday after showing signs of distress while having breakfast in the track kitchen. Subsequent medical tests at Los Alamitos Medical Center revealed that Schvaneveldt had limited brain activity. He was taken off life support Sunday afternoon.

Global Hunter remains in stable condition following surgery on Monday.

Global Hunter, who was pulled up with an injury to his right front ankle after winning Sunday's Grade 2 American Handicap, underwent surgery at Alamo Pintado Equine Clinic in Los Olivos, Calif., on Monday to stabilize the leg, trainer A.C. Avila said.

Avila said a plate and 16 screws were inserted into the injured leg, and that early prognosis was positive.

"So far, it's okay," he said shortly after the surgery was completed. "He didn't have any leg infection or founder."
 
Jockey Scott Stevens, the older brother of retired Hall of Fame rider Gary Stevens, Scott Stevens has been moved from the intensive care unit at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minn., to a private room to finish his recovery from injuries suffered in a spill at Canterbury Park on Friday, his agent, Chad Anderson, said on Monday. He is expected to remain at the hospital for one more week.

Stevens, 49, sustained six broken ribs, punctured both of his lungs, broke both sides of his collarbone, and has a lacerated spleen, according to Anderson.
 
Hollywood Park once again was forced to cancel racing on Thursday due to a lack of entries received by horseman. It continues to puzzle us as to why there is a shortage of horses when Hollywood Park management reported on Facebook that 400 horses worked out this past week. Also, Hollywod Park continues to card extra races on weekends when perhaps it would be in the best interest to run 7-8 races on a race card.
 
Race fans that saw the Grade III Hollywood Park Juvenile Championship on Monday, July 5 witnessed two very nice and promising colts as the two-year-old J P's Gusto outran Western Mood to take home the winners share of $100,000 purse. Trained by David Hofmans, J P's Gusto is by Successful Appeal and paid $3.40 for the win. Both colts should be followed very closely as they have ability and come from top notch stables.
 
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