Del Mar Thoroughbred Club - The first race at Del Mar is 5 furlongs. The race is for three year olds and upward that have never won $7,500 other than Maiden, Claiming or Starter or that have never won 2 races. That’s a mouthful. This race is a $59,000 Allowance on Turf. The field consists of 7 horses.

Nonino : This horse is 30-1. He’s a 3 year old Gelding. His lone win was on Turf back in August of last year. The race was a 62k Maiden Special Weight. He’s really shown nothing to warrant a wager.

Dixie Banker : This 3 year old Gelding is 5-1. His lone win came almost 4 months ago at Santa Anita. He won a 6.5 furlong turf race. It was a 50k Maiden Special Weight. It’s been the only race that he’s been a contender in.

Slide Home : 4 year old Gelding that’s the favorite at 2-1. He’s won 2 races. The first was a 5 furlong dirt race at Santa Anita in October 2004. He ran wire to wire. His next win came 1 year ago at Del Mar. It was a 6 furlong race on dirt. Again, he went wire to wire. He’s unproven on turf and he has not raced in 8 months. Both of his wins were against weaker horses.

Irish Ty : Coming in as the second favorite, according to the morning line, this might be the horse to pick. He’s a 5 year old Gelding and is always competitive. He has two impressive wins and a host of 2nd place finishes. Expect Irish Ty to be bet down some.

Raise The Mark : A 30-1 long shot that is expected to race like it. At first glance, you would see many close 2nd place finishes and a win in his last race. However, look closer at this 5 year old Gelding and you will see that all of those races were at the $8,000 Maiden level and that he’s not running at big tracks this year.

Margaritalosflores : 7-2 on the morning line. This horse has been running on the turf since mid-2005. He’s a 4 year old colt that figures to be in the mix. He’s bee running around the $50,000 and $60,000 Allowance level at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park all of 2006. His last race was about 20 days ago. He’s a bit of a closer and this race has some early speed. The distance might be too short for him though.

Ellwood and Jake : 4-1 on the morning line based almost solely on Jockey/Trainer stats. This 3 year old horse has three races total. Two were on turf and he won one and finished 3rd in the other. Today’s Jockey, has ridden him in the lone dirt race and it was a disaster—finished 8th out of 12 horses.