Del Mar H. J

A field of 10 turf marathoners will grind out the demanding 1 3/8 miles over
the lawn in the $250,000 Del Mar H. (G2) on Sunday, and we’ll shop around for
value on top. Trainer Mike Mitchell has sent out front running former claimers to win the last two editions
of this race, in 2004 with Star Over the Bay and in 2005 with
Leprechaun Kid (Alphabet Soup), so we’ll take a stab with Mitchell again and go
with SYMPHONY SID (Unbridled). Recently claimed for $50,000 in July, Symphony
Sid looks like just one of two speed types in this race and is bred to run all
day, so the 1 3/8 miles should not pose a problem for the six-year-old. The
chestnut has been in the money in five of eight lifetime turf tries and isn’t
facing the deepest field this race has ever seen. Martin Garcia will pilot the
likely longshot.

QUINQUIN THE KING (Fr) (Take Risks) makes as much sense as any in here and
gave a good account of himself in his lone U. S. start, a third in the San Juan
Capistrano Invitational H. (G2) in April. Conditioned by Bob Hess Jr., the gray four-year-old
has been in the top three in nine straight races and looks to add to that
streak here under Corey Nakatani. Equipped with enough tactical speed to stay
within reach early, a sensible trip may be all that the colt needs to be a huge
threat for the top prize.

ARTISTE ROYAL (Ire) (Danehill) is definitely one with a chance in here for trainer Laura
de Seroux.
Facing top company this season, the steady bay has been in winning position turning for home of late
but has come up short, a trend we are a bit cautious of. The five-year-old
annexed a Group 3 in France at 1 1/4 miles last campaign and is proven at marathon distances,
but we just question his ability to cross the wire first.
An obvious exotics must-use under David Flores.

T. H. APPROVAL (With Approval) is a distance specialist who looms as the one
to beat here, but drew the widest post and will have to be at his best to win this
one. The Eduardo Inda pupil is coming off a solid win in the Sunset Breeders’
Cup H. (G2) last out at Hollywood and would be a major player with anything
resembling that effort. The presence of Alex Solis certainly helps, but the lack
of a win over this course and the wide post lead us to believe he’ll be an
underlay on the win end.

SUPER STRUT (Lil Tyler) hails from dangerous connections and is in good
enough current form to get a second look from us in this spot. The Craig Dollase-trained six-year-old gelding has never traveled this distance but has posted his
best three races to date in his last three outings, giving us hope that he could
add quite a bit of value to the exotics. Tyler Baze will ride.

RUNAWAY DANCER (Runaway Groom) likes Del Mar and is coming off a win for Dan
Hendricks in the Escondido H. over this course and distance. The inconsistent gray is quite good when he’s on his
game, but we’re not sure which version of the gelding will show up on this
occasion. We’re intrigued by the fact that leading rider Victor Espinoza will
have the riding chores, and we like the inside draw, but it’s hard to predict
what kind of effort the late runner will produce. A gimmicks includee, but only
on the bottom for us.

CHEROOT (Smokester) would not normally be placed this low in the selection
process, but he faces a grueling trip on the inside on or near the pace, and we
can’t envision a positive result in light of that fact. We may regret this decision
in hindsight, but we’ll discard the five-year-old on this occasion. MIGHTY
MYSTERIOUS (Mystery Storm) has improved since switching to the turf, but this
looks like a tall order. PARAQUEDISTA
(Brz) (Music Prospector) has faced cheaper as of late and owns just one turf
tally to date, leading us to believe he’ll have to produce something we haven’t
seen over his previous 32 races to be a factor here.  INDIANTOWN JONES
(Green Dancer) simply looks overmatched and misplaced.