Bing Crosby Season | Horse Racing Free Tips

Margot’s Boy Hoping For ‘A Very Good Day’ In Del Mar’s Let It Ride

Ten 3-year-olds answered the call for Sunday's headliner at Del Mar, the seventh edition of the Let It Ride Stakes. It goes as a mile on the turf and offers a $75,000 purse.

Following the Hollywood theme of the fall Bing Crosby Season, the race was named for the manic 1989 comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss as a sick gambler who gets a hot tip and goes on an amazing one-day run at the track (it was filmed at old Hialeah). It's a good one to dial up if you're stuck at home avoiding the virus.

Sunday's turfer is headed by Margot's Boy, a California-bred gelding by Clubhouse Ride who has won three races, and Heywoods Beach, a Kentucky-bred Speightstown colt who has a pair of wins on his ledger. Margot's Boy is owned by Alfred Pais, trained by Craig Lewis and will be ridden by Tiago Pereira; he's been listed at 3-1 on the morning line. Heywoods Beach is owned by Hronis Racing, trained by John Sadler and will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli; he was hung at 7-2.

Here's the full field for the stakes from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

A Venneri Racing or Lombardi's Goalie (Juan Hernandez, 12-1); MyRacehorsecom or Spendthrift Farm's Lane Way (Drayden Van Dyke, 4-1); Roadrunner Racing or Sayjay Racing's Strongconstitution (Abel Cedillo, 4-1); Reddam Racing's Rookie Mistake (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1); Heywoods Beach; Paula Capestro's Dominant Soul (Edwin Maldonado, 8-1); Margot's Boy; Coal Creek Farm's I'm Leaving You (Victor Espinoza, 30-1); David Bernsen, Jacobs or Lambert's Lure Him In (Tyler Baze, 12-1), and Doyle, Gonzalez or Gutierrez's Jammers Justice (Eswan Flores, 15-1).

Margot's Boy last raced October 18 at Santa Anita where was beaten a bit less than five lengths in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby. Prior to that he was second, beaten in a photo, in the G2 Del Mar Derby on September 6. Trainer Lewis also conditioned the horse's sire, who was a hard-knocking stakes winner and has become a hot commodity on the California breeding scene.

Heywoods Beach last ran in the aforementioned Del Mar Derby where he finished 10th in the nine-furlong grass test. His two victories so far were both on grass and both at a mile which, obviously, may bode well for him in the Let It Ride.

Lane Way closed fast to finish second in his most recent outing, an allowance test at a mile on the turf at Santa Anita on September 27. He's a colt by Into Mischief trained by Richard Mandella.

Strongconstitution, by the hot young Tapit sire Constitution, has finished on the board in all six of his lifetime starts. The $220,000 2-year-old purchase was stakes placed here last fall in the Bob Hope.

First post Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. PT

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Abel Cedillo Ready To Defend Bing Crosby Title; ‘Cup Will Keep Flavien Prat Away

Abel Cedillo relocated from the Northern to Southern California racing circuit for the Del Mar summer meeting of 2019 and proved he belonged by winning 25 races and finishing third in the rider standings behind Flavien Prat and Drayden Van Dyke.

Cedillo, a 31-year-old native of Guatemala, then polished his credentials by winning the Bing Crosby Season meeting, edging Van Dyke, 13-12. Cedillo's back, represented by veteran agent Tom Knust, and booked to ride all but one of the 18 races on the opening weekend cards when the meeting commences on Saturday.

“I feel great and I'm happy to be back (for the meeting),” Cedillo said Thursday by telephone. “I came down (to Southern California) to ride good horses and big races and that's what I've been doing, so I'm very happy about everything.”

Cedillo won 30 races at the 2020 summer meeting as Prat edged newcomer Umberto Rispoli, 50-49, for the riding title. But Cedillo had the honor of being chosen by trainer Bob Baffert to ride one of the world's best horses, Maximum Security, when Luis Saez tested positive for COVID-19. And Cedillo came through with victories in the San Diego Handicap and TVG Pacific Classic.

Saez returned as Maximum Security finished second to stablemate Improbable in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on September 26 and will be aboard for the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic a week from Saturday. Cedillo will be here, working on that title defense.

Cedillo and Van Dyke were tied going into the final day of the 2019 Bing Crosby meeting. Cedillo won the first race, aboard Wound Tight for trainer Bob Hess, Jr., and the best Van Dyke could do on the day was two close runner-up finishes.

“I didn't come (south) thinking about winning meets, so it was great that it happened,” Cedillo said.

Prat has won the last two summer meet riding championships and three of the last four. But the 28-year-old Frenchman's only fall crown here came in 2017 which was, possibly not coincidentally, when Del Mar hosted the Breeders' Cup.

His chances of prevailing this year look severely compromised from the outset because of conflicts with the Breeders' Cup which starts its two-day run a week from today at Keeneland.

Prat was in Lexington, Ky., this morning planning to work two horses for trainer Simon Callaghan that he'll ride in Cup events: Harvest Moon in the $2 million Distaff and Madone in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf. Harvest Moon won the Torrey Pines Stakes here last summer and Madone the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf. Heavy rain in Kentucky resulted in postponement of those works until tomorrow, at which time Prat also will work 2019 TVG Pacific Classic winner Higher Power for trainer John Sadler.

Even if today's works had gone as scheduled, COVID protocols precluded Prat from returning to ride the opening weekend of the Bing Crosby meeting. So he will be replaced on eight scheduled mounts Saturday and remain in Kentucky through the Breeders' Cup the following weekend.

Thus, Prat will miss the first third of the 15-day Crosby season.

Agent Derek Lawson has Prat scheduled to ride seven of the 14 Breeders' Cup races and is working on one more possibility. Prat's best chance would appear to be Eddie Read Stakes winner United for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf.

Rispoli and Juan Hernandez are the other Del Mar-based jockeys with Breeders' Cup calls. They'll ride here over the weekend – Rispoli has 16 scheduled mounts in 18 races and Hernandez 15 – before heading to the Bluegrass State.

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Del Mar’s Seventh Consecutive Fall Meet To Be Conducted Without Fans

Del Mar's seventh consecutive fall race meeting – presented with a Hollywood flare and a title that honors the track's founder, Bing Crosby – breaks from the starting gate this Saturday for a 15-day stand that will take it through to Sunday, Nov. 29.

The Bing Crosby Season will offer 16 stakes races during its run, headed by a pair of grassy Grade 1's on closing weekend – the $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 28 and the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes on Nov. 29.

After its Saturday/Sunday opening weekend, the track will settle into a Friday-through-Sunday format for the following three weeks, then close things out with a four-day finish starting on Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26.

The track will continue its emphasis on the safety of its horses and riders which has now resulted in a highly successful three-year span that has seen it rise to the top of a list of the nation's safest racetracks. Its extensive program of enhanced procedures and protocols include additional veterinarian oversight, a panel of experts that scrutinizes all horse entries and overriding analyses of medications and workout routines for its horses. These once novel steps now have become part of the day-to-day routine at the shore racing headquarters.

As was the case during recently concluded summer meet, the track will operate its fall season under stringent COVID-19 protocols, including daily health screenings for all employees and essential personnel. It will have medical professionals onsite and require both the wearing of face masks and social distancing. In accordance with state and local guidelines, racing again will be conducted without fans in attendance.

“Safety is on our menu from start to finish,” said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's CEO Joe Harper. “If you start with safety, everything else just flows. And not only will we again have safe racing, but we'll once more have the best racing in the country throughout our stand, something racing fans are going to love to watch.”

Nine of the track's fall stakes will be run on its Jimmy Durant Turf Course starting with the opening day Kathryn Crosby Stakes for fillies and mares going a mile. The meet's last seven stakes – presented over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend – are all contested on the lawn, leading up to the two Grade I offerings mentioned earlier.

In keeping with its Bing Crosby/Hollywood theme, the majority of the track's stakes are named for stars of the past who had Del Mar connections. Among the black-type presentations are races named for Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Jimmy Durante and Cecil B. DeMille.

Del Mar's racing office – headed by a pair of pros in its executive vice president for racing Tom Robbins and racing secretary David Jerkens – will be presenting either eight or nine races daily with a first post of 12:30 p.m. on all days with the exception of Thanksgiving Day and its special 11 a.m. start.

It also will present live cards on both Breeders' Cup days – Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7. Eight Del Mar races will be run both afternoons around the 14 championship events – five on Friday and nine of Saturday — conducted at Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky this year.

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Del Mar’s First Condition Book Now Available; Purses Increased 10%

Del Mar has announced the release of its first condition book for the upcoming Bing Crosby Season at the San Diego County, Calif., track, an eight-day book that will cover the first half of the 15-day session, which runs for Saturday, Oct. 31 to Sunday, Nov. 29.

This is the seaside track's seventh fall season, annually a short-but-sweet run that has become the foremost late-year meeting in the country.

“Our fall meet has just gotten better and better as we've gone along,” said Del Mar's racing secretary David Jerkens. “We're again putting the emphasis on the two things that have worked very well for us in the recent past — turf racing and 2-year-olds. This first book will get our horsemen through the initial three weekends, then we'll be out with a 7-day one that will take us to the finish.”

The condition book is now available on-line at www.dmtc.com/horsemen/condition-book. Hard copies also are being distributed at racing centers throughout California.

The track will offer 16 stakes worth $2,250,000 during the stand, with nine of them run on its Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Additionally, its overnight purses – already among the highest in the nation – will rise by 10% across the board this fall making a good thing even better for its horsemen.

Among its stakes offerings are nine graded events, topped by the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds on Saturday, Nov. 28 and the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for older fillies and mares on Sunday, Nov. 29. Both are run on turf.

Further, there will be six stakes for juvenile runners, including a pair of graded grass miles.

The stakes lineup with its turf emphasis has drawn a stellar sprinkling of top-line horses from across the country previously and more of the same is expected in 2020.

Racing will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday to open the session, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the following three weeks. It will finish with a four-day week kicked off by the Thursday, Nov. 26, Thanksgiving holiday.

First post will be 12:30 PT daily with the exception of Thanksgiving Day when there will be an early 11 a.m. post.

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