Racing! Del Mar in the homestretch

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we catch up on some odds and ends.

Omaha Beach switches races

Omaha Beach, the Kentucky Derby favorite until having to scratch with a throat issue, is no longer pointed toward the Awesome Again at Santa Anita but the Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs. It’s the same day, Saturday, Sept. 28.

The news, first reported by Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form, is still at the “looking seriously” stage according to trainer Richard Mandella.

The difference is the Awesome Again is 1 1/8 miles while the Ack Ack is a one-turn mile. Both races are for older horses.

“A mile and an eighth is a little more than I want to do first time out,” Mandella told Privman. “A one-turn mile is a nice way to bring him back.”

Here’s Jay’s full story. Just click here.

Improbable to BC Mile

And speaking of stories that Privman has broken this week, he reports that Improbable, the easy winner of Sunday’s Shared Belief at Del Mar, may be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

“We’ll wait a week and the decide what to do,” Bob Baffert told Privman. He indicated he will talk it over with Elliott Walden, the chief executive at WinStar, which is the majority owner of the horse.

Improbable looked pretty good on Sunday and would be pointed away from the Classic, where McKinzie is likely to be Baffert’s top horse. Improbable is just 3-years-old.

You can read Jay’s full story. Just click here.

New Los Al TB caller

Chris Griffin is the new thoroughbred announcer at Los Alamitos for the upcoming meeting. Michael Wrona will take over both the thoroughbred and quarter-horse race calling at the end of the year.

Bobby Neuman was the former thoroughbred caller and everyone thought heir-apparent to the Ed Burgart night-time role when he retires at the end the year. But the hiring of Wrona scuttled those plans.

Griffin will also replace Burgart this week when the legend goes on vacation. He was also the caller at Sam Houston Park and did several California fair meetings include Ferndale, Pleasanton, Sacramento and Fresno.

The L.A. County Fair meeting, which starts next Friday, will be three-days a week (Fri-Sun) the first two weeks and four days (Thu-Sun) the last week.

Who goofed, I’ve got to know?

While trying to correct that the Travers was not a win-and-your-in Breeders’ Cup race, we mistakenly tied it to the fact it was restricted to 3-year-olds. Well, the Haskell is a 3-year-old race that is a win-and-your-in Breeders’ Cup race. So, being restricted is not a criterion. So, we’ll just say the Travers is not a win-and-your-in race and leave it at that.

Del Mar preview

The last Wednesday card of the meeting has eight races starting at 2 p.m. There are turf races and one stakes and one allowance.

The feature is the $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes for Cal-bred 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs. The favorite, at 4-5, hasn’t had a misstep for trainer Peter Miller, who is witching to jockey Flavien Prat.

He has won all three of his starts by margins of 6 ¼, 9 ¼ and 8 lengths.

The second favorite, at a distant 5-1, is Been Studying Her for Jerry Hollendorfer and Mike Smith. He’s only raced once and won a maiden special by a nose at Sacramento.

Here are the field sizes, in order: 7, 9, 9, 10 (1 also eligible), 8 (2 ae), 10, 9, 12 (1 ae).

Bob Ike’s Dmr pick of the day

FIFTH RACE: No. 5 Queen of the Track (5-1)

Taking a little shot in this starter allowance race going 5 furlongs on turf with cutback runner Queen of the Track. The Jeff Bonde trainee faded going long but is in the third race of her form cycle and should appreciate the return to sprinting. The morning line favorites will be formidable but this one offers some value for a trainer-jockey combo that is having a solid meet.

Sunday’s result: Day by Day stalked from the outside while getting the right trip but tired badly when the real running began.

Bob Ike is a Partner/VP of Horsebills.com (here’s a video) and the proprietor of BobIkePicks.com (full-card picks, 3 Best Plays and betting strategy).

Final thought

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Now, the star of the show, Wednesday’s entries.