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.

Heading to the races? Don't forget to take us with you when you go. http://www.horseracing-selections.com and sign up right now!