ROTW

[Dana666]

1- Jeranimo: Always liked him. Was given time on the farm after tough spring campaign-lost weight which he has since gained back. Pointing towards Pacific Classic. Not sure he\'ll fire his best here but is certainly capable on class alone.

2-Goldwacki: Gotta be better than his last right? Still seems like he prefers longer distances. Pass.

3-Kid Edward: Interesting longshot. Seems to be getting better and better. This is a real step up for him though. Might use underneath in exotics.

4-Leroy\'s D: At the top of his game, but I\'m not sure it will be good enough.

5-Smart Bid: Tough call. Shippers haven\'t fared well at DMR in recent years and neither has Motion. Will get his trip today though as there are other speeds for him to stalk. I\'d like to single him in the pick six, but there are legit questions. . .

6-Acclamation: Really interesting. They pointed for this race. I never liked cut backs with marathon turf types. Speed hasn\'t been great on this grass course either.

7-Caracortado: A real beast. Was all out to chase Courageous Cat in last. How much did that effort take out of him? My guess is something. But he is hard not to like.

8-Celtic Princess: I like this filly. She\'s doing great right now. I wish she got more weight from the males in here though. AC is red hot right now. She has a chance I think.

In multi-race exotics I will use Smart Bid, Caracortado and Celtic Princess. If I have to narrow, I will single only Smart Bid. Taking a mild stand against Jeronimo and Acclamation.

[Dana666]

The grass at DMR has been trimmed low to create the \"pool table\" effect. Speed is much much better now. I wish they\'d just let it grow. I was so happy that they might actually have a bias-free course, but this is not to be the case. They let you have three days of fair racing -- that\'s it. Take nothing away from Acclamation though. He ran huge. Caro bounced (I\'m guessing) and Jeronimo got a nice prep for the Pacific Classic. I wish AC had left the filly in - would have been interesting. I must give Acclamation his due though. The connections knew what they had -- good going!

Speaking of speed on grass, how about Saratoga -- geez. Play the speed on their grass course at least until it rains or something.

[bellsbendboy]

Not sure what to make of your \"pool table\" comment but your assumption that the Delmar turf course has a speed bias is not at all accurate.

Turf courses in general, and Delmar is no different, always favor closers early in the meet.  This is because the races are contested on the hedge and the pace is faster.  The height of the grass has little, if any, impact on whether speed holds.  

Delmar, in particular, will put up the rail this week and speed will be better, then the following week the rail will be extended and speed will rule.

Acclamation is very good right now and would have beaten his field with a refrigerator on his back.  Yet he is the only wire to wire winner during the meet so far (perhaps a dozen grasss heats) and half the winners have gone last to first with no other winner within three lengths of the lead at the halfway point of the race. bbb

[miff]

Bell,

Agree, grass being cut etc is lore and does not really make a difference, hard courses usually kinder to speed.Stood with Mizdirection at Del Mar yesterday, any speed course would have gotten her home but she got run over by a garbage can, speed still negative there.

SPA grass very favorable to up close/speed types so far.


Mike