Hot Commodities
According to Wikipedia, a commodity, in part, is a good for which there is a demand and that has not been more then evident this year at the claim box at Del Mar.
But before we get into today’s subject, a shout out has to be heard for the now 18 for 18 Zenyatta.
The queen took the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar last weekend but she had to work to do it once again
Because of the super slow pace of :50.61 and 1:15.11, jockey Mike Smith had to ask her to get into the race earlier than usual as she made the lead 5 wide past the eighth pole and from there Zenyatta thought it was over and was waiting on her rivals to fire.
She won geared down on her own merits but Smith had to learn a valuable lesson in that he has to time the late move to perfection to assure Zenyatta does not go to sleep on the lead.
The star will likely have one more race, either in New York in the Beldame Stakes or at Santa Anita in the Zenyatta Breeders Cup Stakes, before defending her title in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill on November 6.
The point about hot commodities is that’s where bettors can look for future winners.
Through last Thursday, there were 52 claims at the Del Mar meet and a total of $1,385,000 was used for those purchases.
The thing that is impressive is that even in today’s economy, people were lining up to buy these horses.
The reason for this is that this niche meet is where the owners really want to shine and they want action. On top of that the purses are solid and the opportunity is there for runners that like Del Mar to reel off wins in a row.
Bettors should keep a keen eye on some of the more coveted runners at the claim box and they including a number of racers that follow.
Light of a Star was a popular runner in his seasonal debut. A total of 5 trainers put in a slip to claim the horse from Charles Treece and Jeff Mullins came out smelling like a rose with the new horse.
When multiple claims are in for a horse, a shake for the horse occurs. This is similar to the draw of a race as each trainer is given a number and whoever’s number shows when they shake the pills gets the horse.
This filly is on the cheap side but she invents ways to win and even if she doesn’t score the rest of this meet, she should be able to transfer her good form to the next stop at Fairplex.
Capt. Sparrow is another that could be a win machine before the summer is out. Six trainers put in a claim for this guy. The gelding came out of a double live race in late May, has been in the hands of some good trainers like Jerry Hollendorfer and will now suit up for Mike Mitchell, who has been winning off the claim in SoCal for decades now.
Capt. Sparrow is versatile but may be best at a mile at this point of his career.
John Sadler doesn’t claim a ton of horses so the fact he claimed first-time starter Sparrow from Wesley Ward speaks volumes.
The filly was in for $32,000 and she ran well to be third first crack. Her future is very bright as her dam won a ton of stakes and banked almost $700,000 and Sparrow is kin to Grade 3 winner and near $250,000 earner Got the Last Laugh.
This miss just might be dangerous even if she tries Maiden Special Weight foes next out.
The lovers were out in full force when Hidden Romance made her seasonal debut at the beach, as Steve Knapp was the winner when 6 put in a claim slip for this filly.
It took Romance awhile to figure it out but since breaking her maiden she has been ultra consistent. Formerly trained by the cagey Jeff Bonde, she has the speed to win short and long and has every right to step up and beat $40,000 claiming foes next out.
The key to this lesson is that there are few fools on the backstretch at the track and if a number of barns want to claim the same horse, it’s because the word is the horse is sharp and relatively sound.
Go to the Del Mar website, look for the claims report, and make some money.
