AMERICAN TURF CLUB LEAD

By: JOE GIRARDI

            Del Mar will open its doors for its 66^th race meeting on July 20^th, 2005

and will run through September 7^th, 2005. The track will run every day except

Tuesday for a six day meeting. They will have eight race cards during the week,

10-race cards on Saturdays and nine-race cards on Sunday. There will be a few

exceptions, opening day (nine races), Labor Day, Monday, September 5^th (10 races)

 and closing day, Wednesday, September 7^th (10 races).

            In addition to the quality racing that Del Mar offers every day they also will

 be hosting some events that will bring the family out to the track. On each Friday

 of the week, along with the late post, 4 p.m. PST there will be free rock n’ roll concerts. The first one will be on July 22^nd with G Love & Special Sauce. The second concert, July 29^th,

will be Super Diamond, a group devoted to making sure that the music of

Neil Diamond continues on through the years. To get the rest of the scheduled

concerts please visit www.dmtc.com.

            Family weekends will also be back on each Saturday and Sunday and

Labor Day from 1-6 p.m. There will be free activities that include, magic shows,

gamezone, Pony Rides, Face Painters and inflatable games and rides-Giant Scramble,

Obstacle Course, Jump and much more. This will help increase attendance because

 the children will have a place to go while the parents are enjoying the racetrack.

            Del Mar also will host newcomer’s seminar every day except July 20, 30,

 August 21 and September 5^th. These seminars are held 1-2:30 p.m. daily and

3-4:30 p.m. on Fridays. This is a good program because it will help new players

learn this great game and maybe make them racing fans for life. Free racing

materials along with how to read them will be provided. There needs to be new

 blood infused into horse racing and these seminars are a start. With poker

 exploding on the scene the coverage that the game has gotten has helped new

 players learn the game and start to play it. The more someone can learn about

 horse racing and how to bet etc, the better it is for the game and Del Mar should

 be commended for their efforts.

            For those of you that are just coming out to the track to play the horses

 here are some helpful tips as to who to look to when making your wagers. Last

year’s leading jockey at the meeting was Corey Nakatani who scored with 54 out

of his 212 starters for a winning percentage of 25.5%. He was only two wins

better than Tyler Baze and 10 wins better than Victor Espinoza. He will obviously

have to be considered one of a few jockeys to have a shot at this year’s title but

 it will be a lot tougher. Patrick Valenzuela is healthy again and will be the one

to beat if he rides the whole meeting. Garret Gomez, the currently leader at the

 current Hollywood meeting along with the current second place jockey, Alex Solis

 will make this a very interesting meeting from a jockeys standpoint. Jon Court

and Rene Douglas are two other jockeys that will also have a big impact and

may offer some value at the windows with the other big shots in town.

            Last year’s leading trainer was Doug O’Neill, O’Neill also leads the current

 standings at the Hollywood meeting and should be a tough competitor at Del Mar.

 Jeff Mullins was his closest rival last year finishing four wins behind O’Neill.

Bob Baffert who was always the one to beat finished third with 17 wins. With only

 11 wins so far at the Hollywood meeting Baffert needs to pick it up to get back

 to the top and that usually comes from his two year olds. If his crop is good this

year then he will have a shot at the title, if not, he doesn’t have much of a

chance at all. Mike Mitchell, who is sitting in second right now and finished fourth

 at Del Mar last year may have the best chance as he has a variety of runners.

Two trainers to look for when trying for a price might be Wallace Dollase and

 Adam Kitchingman both of whom finished with 5 wins from 14 and 13 starts

 respectively.

            Following these tips and the American Turf Club throughout the meeting

 can lead to a profitable meeting at Del Mar. Good Luck!