Del Mar | Horse Racing Free Tips

Acknowledging ‘Inconsistencies’ in New Timing System, Equibase Says Del Mar Turf Races Will Be Hand Timed for Rest of Meet

In response to reports of inaccurate times being produced for Del Mar turf races by its new Gmax GPS timing system, Equibase said in a statement Thursday that Del Mar will hand time its turf races for the rest of the meet. The statement also admitted the company found “inconsistencies” in the Gmax timing of Del Mar turf races that it will work to fix before the fall meet at the seaside oval.

“Del Mar racetrack will be utilizing hand timing for turf races for the remainder of the summer meet,” the statement read. “The times produced by the Equibase GPS System for dirt races have proven to be highly accurate and will continue to be provided. Last week, we discovered some inconsistencies with respect to the GPS survey and our historical survey relating to the turf course that we will work to rectify before Del Mar’s November meet. The GPS system will continue to provide the full running order for all types of races.”

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TIF’s Cummings Takes on Issue of Timing Problems

One day after Bill Finley wrote about inconsistencies in timing at a handful of racetracks in the U.S.–both big and small–in Wednesday’s TDN, Pat Cummings, the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, has penned a piece of his own, explaining why accuracy in timing is paramount to the game and offering a framework for how to move forward.

“The state of race timing in America is not improving as the years pass. It is getting worse,” writes Cummings, who served as the director of racing information for Trakus for the better part of four years from November 2011 through June 2015.

As the result of a deal between Equibase and the British-based Total Performance Data (TPD), races at a total of 11 American racetracks now rely on a GPS-based system known as Gmax. The system debuted in the U.S. in 2017 and is being used for this first time this summer at Del Mar. But as Finley and Cummings each point out, Gmax has been so unreliable as to force figure makers in this country to rely not on reported times, but on their own hand-timing of races.

“We have discovered that the final times, which is really all you are concerned with when making speed figures, from these tracks are not accurate enough at Gmax tracks to enable us to publish accurate speed figures,” noted Randy Moss, recognizable to most from his role as a racing commentator, but who has also been involved with making Beyer Speed Figures for Daily Racing Form for many years, in Finley’s story. “For the last month plus, we have been using our own times generated by video timing instead of the final times posted by the Gmax timer.”

Indeed, after finding that a handful of races from the Aug. 1 card at Del Mar–a program that also included the GI Bing Crosby S., a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race–TIF undertook an investigation of races at other tracks on the same day. Fully eight of the 11 live races at Woodbine Aug. 1 (as of the charts that existed Aug. 4) and two-thirds of Laurel Park’s nine races had different times on their live feeds compared to what the chart was reporting.

“An accurate time is a fundamental element of regulated horse races,” Cummings writes. “It has become clear that our sport has not evolved with more modern technology, but rather taken a technology, ignored whether it is at least as accurate as the technology it is replacing, and shoved a square peg into a round hole.

“Questioning Equibase’s GPS play is not being critical of all innovation and hoping to quash it, it is being critical of technological backpedaling which is being positioned as exactly the opposite.”

Click here to read the entire piece from Pat Cummings.

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Second Chances: Spielberg

In this continuing series, TDN’s Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

The highly regarded Spielberg (c, 2, Union Rags-Miss Squeal, by Smart Strike), runner-up on debut as the 4-5 favorite for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in a quickly run maiden special weight at Del Mar Aug. 8 (video), is currently being aimed at the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity Sept. 7.

Campaigned in partnership by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert E. Masterson, Spielberg brought $1 million at last year’s Keeneland September Sale, the co-highest price of 60 yearlings to change hands by his promising young sire in 2019.

“He’s definitely one of the stars of the stable,” SF Racing’s Tom Ryan said. “We do have lofty expectations.”

Carrying the name of legendary film director and producer Steven Spielberg and boasting an eye-catching worktab lined with bullets, the word was certainly out ahead of the flashy chestnut’s six-furlong unveiling earlier this month.

Debuting with blinkers, he broke sharply from his outside draw and kept the early leaders within his scope in third through a quarter mile in :22.27. He ranged up three wide heading into the far turn and challenged for command at the top of the stretch, but couldn’t keep pace down the lane with the ultra-impressive third-time starter Dr. Schivel (Violence), who drew clear to score by 5 3/4 lengths.

Spielberg earned a 73 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort while the winner was awarded an 86 rating.

“I thought his first race was a very good effort and he came out of it in great shape,” Ryan said. “He will have gotten an education from it and he was beaten by what looks like a very nice colt as well.”

Spielberg returned to the worktab with a four-furlong spin in :49 (32/69) at Del Mar Aug. 17 (XBTV video).

“I texted Bob yesterday,” Ryan said. “We had two colts work-($610,000 KEESEP yearling) Tarantino (Pioneerof the Nile) and Spielberg. I said, ‘How did the two directors do?’ He said, ‘Both went great.’ He’s very happy with him. He just cruised around there and went on his own. He seems to be ultra- professional and very straight forward to deal with.”

Bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. and out of the three-time winner Miss Squeal, Spielberg hails from the extended female family of Grade I winners Dream Deal, Clear Mandate, Strong Mandate, et al.

Other standouts by Union Rags out of Smart Strike mares include: Union Strike, who broke her maiden in the 2016 GI Del Mar Debutante S.; and the stakes-winning Still There, who completed the exacta in Saratoga’s GI Ballerina S. two summers ago.

Ryan concluded, “What he accomplishes as a 2-year-old would be a nice entree to what I hope he’s capable of as a 3-year-old.”

Previous standouts featured in ‘Second Chances’ include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), MSW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. runner-up Candy Tycoon (Twirling Candy).

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Rispoli Guides Smooth Like Strait To Victory In La Jolla Handicap

Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait used his speed to good advantage Sunday and scored a handy victory in the 80th running of the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Under 124 pounds and Umberto Rispoli, Del Mar's leading rider, the 4-5 favorite drew out in the lane to tally by 2 1/2 lengths at the end of the 1 1/16-mile grass test and earned $75,000 from the $125,000 purse. The victory by the Midnight Lute colt was his fourth in eight lifetime starts and pushed his bankroll to $253,323. He is trained by Michael McCarthy.

Finishing second was Exline-Border Racing, David Bernsen and partners' Storm the Court and running third was Karl Pergola's K P All Systems Go.

As the 4-5 race favorite, Smooth Like Strait returned $3.60, $2.60 and $2.20 across the board. He covered the distance on the green in a solid 1:40.29.

Three of the Kentucky-bred's four victories have come in stakes races, including the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar last December 1.

“I knew I had the most speed,” said Rispoli. “Mike (trainer Michael McCarthy) told me to ride like I was on the best horse. When you hear that, you have confidence. When Mike Smith's horse (Indian Peak) came up outside me on the backstretch, that was OK. It wasn't a worry. My horse was relaxed, so we were just helping each other. Then he had good speed at the end and we were gone. I like this place (Del Mar) and I like racing in California. There's good competition here. We go against each other and make each other better. It's good.”

Rispoli was a double winner on the afternoon and took a 24 to 21 advantage over Flavien Prat for the riding crown at Del Mar after 13 days of racing at the shore oval.

“Very pleased,” McCarthy said. “The race unfolded like it looked on paper. I thought Umberto (rider Rispoli) did a wonderful job of getting him out in the clear on the first turn. When that horse came up outside of him on the backside it was something we're not used to. But Umberto was very cool, didn't panic, did the right thing and knew he was on the best horse today. When the other horse went ahead it didn't bother me because I knew we were still traveling well in hand. When we re-engaged and got a half a length ahead I was just happy to see no one was coming from behind.”

Nobody hit the Pick Six Sunday afternoon meaning there will be a carryover of $142,511 heading into this Friday's card. The track's Jackpot carryover rose to $56,395.

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