Beat Ray Every Day At Del Mar: And You Can Do It … For FREE!

With apologies to the late actor and horseplayer Mickey Rooney, I lost $20 on my first visit to Del Mar in 1979 and spent the next 41 years trying to win it back.

Maybe in appreciation of that dedication, along with the “taking one for the team” selfless attitude that has kept me coming back to the Southern California seaside track every year, my so-called friends at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hoodwinked invited me to be the sucker centerpiece for an online contest that begins today and runs each day throughout the summer meet ending on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Here's the deal.

It's free to play. Sign up here. Now. 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.

If, at the end of the summer meet, you wind up with the highest bankroll of your accumulated bets, you'll win two VIP tickets to the 2021 Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. There are other prizes for top 10 finishers and anyone who has a higher bankroll than me at the end of the meet (dream on!) will be entered into a drawing for additional prizes.

Anyone who can beat me, given my decades of losing playing Del Mar, will own the deserved title of Beach Boss.

To make things more humiliating for me interesting, Del Mar is enlisting some celebrity handicappers to see if they have what it takes to out-handicap me. Every Saturday  at 11 a.m. PT on Del Mar's social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube), I'll join television host Michelle Yu and and a guest handicapper for some friendly conversation and analysis of the day's contest race. First up this week is Larry Collmus, who is subbing for longtime track announcer Trevor Denman this summer. Thankfully, they've thrown me a patsy on this first week.

I'm going into this petrified brimming with confidence that all these years of experience are going to pay off. Bring it on!

 

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Remembering Harriet Sue, The First Filly To Contest The Blue Grass Stakes

Peter Callahan's multiple graded stakes winner Swiss Skydiver is the first filly to race in Keeneland's most famous race, the Toyota Blue Grass (G2), since 1944 – long before corporate sponsorship entered Thoroughbred racing but a year similar to 2020 because of adjustments to Keeneland's Spring Meet.

That first Blue Grass filly was Harriet Sue, a daughter of the legendary Bull Lea who was bred and owned by Hyman Friedberg of Louisville.

The 1944 Blue Grass was part of Keeneland's Spring Meet, which in 1943-1945 was held at Churchill Downs because of World War II. In March 1943, Keeneland had been deemed a “suburban” plant and placed in the classification of race tracks that were asked not to operate because of shortages in rubber. The Keeneland Association leased the Churchill facilities for the three spring seasons. No Keeneland Fall Meets were held during that time.

Scheduling of the day allowed Harriet Sue to run in both the 1944 Ashland and Blue Grass, which since 2014 have been held the same day.

On April 10, Harriet Sue defeated four rivals in the $5,000-added Ashland and recorded an impressive victory for trainer John Hanover and jockey Jesse Higley.

According to Louisville's Courier-Journal (thanks to research provided by the Keeneland Library), “Bet confidently and ridden confidently, the speedy Harriet Sue didn't betray the confidence of Jockey Jess Higley or the faith of most of the bettors in the gathering of 7,000 race fans at Churchill Downs Wednesday afternoon. 'Sue' pulled away from four other fillies to capture the seventh running of Keeneland's Ashland Stakes by three and one-half lengths.”

That performance led some Turf writers and Harriet Sue's connections to speculate about the filly competing in the Kentucky Derby – something that had not occurred since 1936.

Harriet Sue returned 16 days later to face males in the $10,000-added Blue Grass. She led her seven rivals for most of the race and “gave way near the end,” according to the chart. She finished fifth behind winner Skytracer. He and four other Blue Grass rivals next competed in the Kentucky Derby, but Harriet Sue returned to the filly division. Favored in the Kentucky Oaks, she finished second, 1½ lengths behind Abe Hirschberg's Canina.

In July of that year, Harriet Sue captured the Arlington Matron at Washington Park. By the time she retired, she had made 80 starts with 19 wins and earnings of $64,175.

In 1949, her stakes-winning full sister, The Fat Lady, was second to Calumet Farm's Wistful in the Kentucky Oaks. Wistful would be the year's champion 3-year-old filly.

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High Winds, Heavy Rain Force Monmouth To Cancel Friday’s Card

Due to heavy rain and high winds that hit the Jersey Shore all day Friday, Monmouth Park canceled its six-race program slated to commence at 5 p.m.

Live racing resumes at Monmouth Park on Saturday, July 11, with a first post of 12:50 p.m. for the 12-race card.

The highlight of the 2020 racing season, the Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Invitational, will be contested for the 53rd time on Saturday, July 18. The meet runs through Sunday, Sept. 27.

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