Category: Horse Racing News

Beat Ray At Del Mar Online Contest: A Bear Trap On The Beach

The only good thing I can say about racing being cancelled last weekend at Del Mar is that I didn't have to lose another round in the track's Beat Ray Everyday online handicapping contest.

But with the return of racing on Friday kicking off a four-day, stakes-packed weekend at the seaside track, I am loaded for bear … literally.

Chris Fallica, the ESPN College GameDay personality known as The Bear and a skilled horseplayer in his own right, has been recruited by Del Mar to trounce challenge me in the second celebrity round of Beat Ray Everyday.

As its name implies, Beat Ray Everyday is an online contest offered every racing day of the Del Mar summer meet. It's free to play and you can still sign up here. All you have to do is bet a mythical $100 each day on the selected contest race in win, place or show bets on any horse or horses. You can read the specific rules here. At the end of the meet, the player with the highest bankroll with those wagers  becomes the “Beach Boss” and wins two VIP tickets to the 2021 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Other prizes are available to top finishers and anyone who finishes ahead of me is entered in a drawing for even more prizes.

Every Saturday, a racing or sports celebrity will be a guest handicapper and take their turns beating me like a drum.

The Bear will join fellow handicapper Michelle Yu and me on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT on Del Mar's social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) to handicap the day's contest race, the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on turf as the ninth race. Tune in to hear our handicapping strategies and our bets for the contest.

Based on his Tweet, The Bear seems a bit overconfident going into this round.

I've spent hours reviewing replays and poring over past performances for the San Clemente. By any estimation, it's a wide-open race, though I'm pretty sure I've found the right horse, the late-running Irish-bred Croughavouke from the barn of Jeff Mullins. She's 6-1 on the morning line and overdue for a winning race after recording three seconds and a third in seven U.S. starts.

Despite that confidence Croughavouke, I'm placing a hedge bet on 15-1 outsider Over Attracted, who spent her early days in France and will be making her second U.S. start for trainer Carla Gaines and jockey Mike Smith.

Ray's Beat Ray Everyday plays:
July 10: $100 win on Hit the Road. Result: Won and paid $5.20 ($260 total)
July 11: $100 win on Voodoo Song. Result: Fifth as 2.90-1 favorite
July 12: $100 win on Going to Vegas. Result: Sixth at 6.10-1
July 24: $50 win/place on Surrender Now. Result: To come
July 25: $40 win/place Croughavouke; #20 win Over Attracted: Result: To come

The post Beat Ray At Del Mar Online Contest: A Bear Trap On The Beach appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Observations on the European Racing Scene: July 25, 2020

HALF TO GOLDEN HORN DEBUTS AT NEWMARKET

1.15 Ascot, Novice, £10,400, 2yo, f, 7fT
SNOW LANTERN (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is the first filly bred by Rockcliffe Stud out of their four-times group 1-winning 1000 Guineas heroine Sky Lantern (Ire) (Red Clubs {Ire}). Likewise a grey in training with Richard Hannon, she encounters some similarly blue-blooded rivals in the race her stable won last year with the subsequent Guineas runner-up Cloak of Spirits (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

1.40 Newmarket, Mdn, £6,400, 2yo, 7fT
DHAHABI (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) understandably caused a sensation when the second highest-priced lot at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1, being a half-brother to the Epsom Derby and Arc hero Golden Horn (GB). Making his debut for Charlie Appleby in the race won 12 months ago by fellow Godolphin representative Military March (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), the March-foaled bay encounters another notable newcomer in Saeed Suhail’s Diamond and Gold (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), a Sir Michael Stoute-trained 400,000gns half-sister to Ladys First (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) who is the sole filly in the line-up.

The post Observations on the European Racing Scene: July 25, 2020 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Next Targets Set for Serpentine, Santiago

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has announced plans for two of his 3-year-old stars of 2020, G1 Investec Derby upsetter Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and G1 Irish Derby hero Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}).

Serpentine will make his next start in the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at ParisLongchamp on Arc Trial day Sept. 13.

“The lads [owners Coolmore] wanted to keep him at a mile and a half, with a view that he could go for the Arc or something like that,” O’Brien said. The Grand Prix de Paris replaces the G2 Prix Niel, the customary 3-year-old course-and-distance prep for the Arc, which has been suspended this year.

Santiago, who gave O’Brien his 14th Irish Derby success late last month, will take on Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Goodwood Cup over two miles and will be in receipt of 15 pounds.

“It was always the plan to come here after Ascot, and we took in the Irish Derby on the way,” said O’Brien. “He seems to have come out of the Irish Derby well–we’re very happy with him at the moment.

“We always thought the Goodwood Cup was a race that would suit him. He’s a horse we always thought would stay very well– that’s why he ran him first time out this year at Ascot over a mile and six (furlongs).

“He’s a very straightforward horse to handle and to train and he’s very clean-winded. He’s a very exciting horse, and we always viewed him as possibly a Cup horse for next year, so this is all good experience for him really.

“If everything goes well, he’ll probably go straight from here to the [G1] St Leger, because there isn’t really anything for him in between.”

The post Next Targets Set for Serpentine, Santiago appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Derby Festival In Need of New Sponsor

The Derby Festival at Epsom is open to a new lead sponsor and naming partner from 2021 after the Jockey Club and Investec agreed to end their 12-year partnership.

As well as the Derby itself, sponsorship of the Oaks and the Coronation Cup is up for grabs, with the latter event set to return to Epsom in 2021 having been moved to Newmarket this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In normal years, the Derby Festival is usually run over two days, with Derby day taking place on the first Saturday in June. This year the meeting was condensed to one afternoon on July 4 and successfully delivered behind closed doors.

The event ordinarily welcomes tens of thousands of spectators, including the Queen, and this year the British viewing audience on ITV reached a peak of 2.3 million, with many millions more watching around the world as Aidan O’Brien’s Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) stormed to an all-the-way success.

Both parties insist the agreement to end the partnership is unrelated to the outbreak of COVID-19 or the nature of this year’s event.

Malcolm Fried, chief marketing officer of Investec, said: “Our partnership with the Derby Festival has been fantastic for Investec. After more than a decade of the association, though, late last year we began a review of our marketing objectives and are now working to a new set of priorities and a new mix of marketing channels.

“We and the Jockey Club have agreed, as a result, to conclude the sponsorship sooner than intended.

“On behalf of Investec, we’d like to thank the team at the Jockey Club for a great partnership. Our thanks also go to the racing industry and the media who cover the sport. Whoever succeeds us as sponsor, we wish them every success and we hope the event goes from strength to strength. We’ve been proud to play a role in the Derby’s recent history.”

Phil White, who runs Epsom Downs as London regional director for Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “I’d like to thank the Investec team for their great partnership.

“Together we’ve enjoyed year-after-year of Classic generations battling to lift our sport’s most coveted prizes, along with magical moments such as Her Majesty The Queen presenting the Derby trophy as part of her 90th birthday celebrations.

“We look forward to welcoming a new partner for the next chapter in the history of one of Britain’s most iconic events.”

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