Beat Ray At Del Mar: The Beach Boss Mayne Event

Kenny Mayne has hosted racing telecasts on ESPN, emceed the Eclipse Awards, covered the Palio in Italy, sung with famous jockeys, did the cha-cha on “Dancing With the Stars” and even called a race at Santa Anita.

But can he Beat Ray at Del Mar in the seaside track's Beach Boss competition?

Mayne is no Johnny-come-lately to horse racing. Growing up around Seattle, Wash., he started tagging along with a horseplayer uncle at the age of 8 to the old Longacres racetrack in Renton, learning to read the Daily Racing Form and cheering on his favorite horses and jockeys.

Since becoming a mainstay on ESPN, he's been a great ambassador for racing, bridging the gap between the old-school horseplayer and the modern-day sports fan who may not fully appreciate or understand what it is about our game that is so appealing.

Bottom line is, the way my luck and picks have been performing, all he has to do is show up to win.

Kenny 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 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes, a Win and You're In Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race for the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile division. Tune in to hear our handicapping strategies and bets for the contest.

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 sign up here. Bet a mythical $100 each day on the selected contest race in win, place or show bets on any horse or horses.  At the end of the meet, the player with the highest bankroll from 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.

The post Beat Ray At Del Mar: The Beach Boss Mayne Event appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Saturday’s Racing Insights for Aug. 29

SPOTLIGHT ON RUNHAPPY BABY IN LOADED SARATOGA MAIDEN

6th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:57 p.m. ET

HAPPYMAC (Runhappy), an $800,000 RNA at the OBS June Sale (:20 3/5), looks like the one to beat in this extremely deep baby race at the Spa. The half-brother to runaway GII Amsterdam S. winner and GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) fired a five-furlong bullet from the gate in :59 2/5 (1/12) at Saratoga Aug. 17. Happymac, drawn widest of all in post 10 for the Heiligbrodts and Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, previously brought $125,000 at KEEJAN and $360,000 at KEESEP as a yearling. He is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

After unleashing Reinvestment Risk (Upstart) to a jaw-dropping ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance earlier this meet, trainer Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables debut another son of the Airdrie Stud freshman sire in $600,000 OBS March (:21) graduate Founder (Upstart).

The rail-drawn Newbomb (Speightstown), a half-brother to the talented GSW & MGISP My Happy Face (Tiz Wonderful), debuts for Todd Pletcher. The $155,000 FTKOCT yearling has a pair of bullet workouts on the tab for this.

The field also includes $600,000 KEESEP graduate Charleston Strong (Flatter) and $375,000 KEESEP graduate Majestic Street (Street Sense), a half-brother to MGSW St. Joe Bay (Saint Anddan). TJCIS PPs

MILLION DOLLAR WAR FRONT KEESEP YEARLING DEBUTS

10th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 6:16 p.m. ET

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of promising youngsters here, including Shadwell Stable’s $1-million KEESEP yearling purchase ZAINALARAB (War Front). She is the first foal out of Delightful Joy (Tapit), heroine of the GIII Monmouth Oaks. Brown will also tighten the girth on Three Chimneys Farm homebred Always Carina (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to the Brown-trained unbeaten GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf hero Structor (Palace Malice). TJCIS PPs

PRICEY GHOSTZAPPER COLT MAKES SECOND START AT DEL MAR

6th-DMR, $55K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 7:40 p.m. ET

VITTORIO (Ghostzapper), a $750,000 OBS Spring purchase (bullet :9 4/5) by Kaleem Shah, looks to build off a better-than-it-looked fifth-place finish after a slow start and wide trip on debut going five furlongs Aug. 1 (Second Chances). The bay fired a four-furlong bullet in :47 (1/113) for trainer Simon Callaghan from the gate Aug. 16. TJCIS PPs

QUEEN’S PLATE WINNER RETURNS FROM LENGTHY LAYOFF

9th-DMR, $59K, OC62K, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 9:10 p.m. ET

Canadian Classic winner ONE BAD BOY (Twirling Candy), winner of last term’s Queen’s Plate S., makes his 4-year-old debut. The dark bay, trained by Richard Baltas, was last seen finishing third as the even-money favorite in the second leg of Canada’s Triple Crown in the Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie last July. He has been working bullets for his return, and graduated impressively in his lone prior try on grass at Santa Anita last April. TJCIS PPs

The post Saturday’s Racing Insights for Aug. 29 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Charlatan Nears Return to Training

TDN Rising Star Charlatan (Speightstown), a Triple Crown candidate earlier in the season before being sidelined by injury, is expected to return to training soon, according to Starlight Racing’s Jack Wolf, who campaigns the sophomore in partnership with SF Racing, Madaket Stables and Stonestreet Stables. After detecting some filling to the front ankle following a June 1 workout [five furlongs in 1:00.80] at Santa Anita, Bob Baffert confirmed that the colt would get 45 days off after an MRI revealed chips which required minor surgery.

“He’s doing really well,” said Wolf. “[The Baffert barn] sent us a video of Charlatan on the backside at Del Mar the other day and he looks fantastic right now. Bob’s comment was ‘Too bad he won’t be running in the [Kentucky] Derby.’ The horse is the real deal, for sure. He hadn’t had a breeze, but the plan is to start him back in a week to 10 days.”

Charlatan won his first two career starts at Santa Anita, including a front-running 10 1/4-length romp Mar. 14. Heavily favored in the second division of the May 2 GI Arkansas Derby, the colt cruised home a six-length winner over Basin (Liam’s Map), but was subsequently demoted to ninth after testing positive for lidocaine, a Class 2 drug, following the race.

Earlier in the season, Baffert had mentioned the GI Preakness  S. was a outside possibility, however, the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic seemed a more realistic late-season goal for the Stonestreet-bred colt.

Wolf added, “I doubt he would be ready for the Preakness, but sometimes these horses can surprise you at how quickly they come back.”

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Vertical Threat Takes on Elders in Pat O’Brien

Lightly raced sophomore Vertical Threat (Tapiture) takes on a hard-knocking group Saturday in Del Mar’s GII Pat O’Brien S., a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the furlong-longer GI Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile. Sixth in a Santa Anita turf sprint first up May 23, the $100,000 OBS April buy romped by six lengths at Los Alamitos June 27 and doubled up in similarly impressive fashion to add the restricted Smiling Tiger S. here July 25. The 92 Beyer Speed Figure he earned last out looks competitive considering fellow 3-year-old Collusion Illusion (Twirling Candy) annexed the Aug. 1 GI Bing Crosby S. with a 93. Third in that heat was Law Abidin Citizen (Twirling Candy).

Favored at 5-2 on the morning line is Flagstaff (Speightstown) for the powerful John Sadler barn. The 6-year-old’s 2020 campaign has included a victory in the GII San Carlos S. over this trip in March and a narrow second to Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) in the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. in April. He’s been off since finishing fourth in the GII Triple Bend S. in June, but has been working swiftly in preparation for this (See XBTV video of Aug.  22 breeze in which he finished clear of stablemate Shortlist {Congrats}, an optional claiming winner at the beginning of the month).

Seven-year-old Giant Expectations (Giant Surprise) hasn’t won since 2017, but his best effort would make him tough to beat. He took this event in the same year as his last victory, and was second by a head in it last term. He was last seen being eased after a slow start in the Dirt Mile Nov. 2.

The post Vertical Threat Takes on Elders in Pat O’Brien appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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