Best Bet: Carmelita’s Man will close in California Dreamin’
Saturday’s ninth race at Del Mar is the $150,000 California Dreamin' Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds and up traveling 1 1/16 miles on the turf course. The scheduled post time is 9:11 p.m. EDT.
Click here for Del Mar entries and results.
No. 5 Carmelita’s Man (4-1) came running for the show in the Crystal Water last time. The late running gelding needs pace help and he likes this turf course. He is 3-for-7 with two runner-up finishes at Del Mar and won this race last year.
No. 6 Kings River Knight (9-5) won two local turf routes last summer. He moved to the John Sadler barn and missed by a nose March 19, and wired the field in his last two state bred stakes races. Umberto Rispoli hops aboard and he was his winning maiden pilot, and he should make his presence felt from the outset.
Peter Miller has a pair of runners in here and No. 10 Indian Peak (5-1) is the more highly regarded of the duo. He should be running late but has won won since the 2021 California Flag Handicap. He stretches back out and can pick up a minor award. He has a couple of placings at this course and distance.
No. 3 None Above the Law (8-1) likes to stalk the pace, and he ended up a close fourth in this race last year. He is 1-for-5 at Del Mar but has not won in quite some time. He ran last in his last three starts and seems to be off his game. He removes blinkers and this is his third start after a layoff, and he is back on turf and might go a bit better.
Get Jarrod’s Del Mar analysis.
Wagers
No. 5 to win
Exacta Box 5-6
Trifecta 5-6/3-5-6-10/3-5-6-10
Recent Best Bet winners
July 22 – Warrens Candy Girl ($22.20)
July 23 – Du Jour ($11.60)
July 26 – Amanda's Folly/Sweet Mystery exacta ($9)
July 27 – Tom Horn/Devil Moon quinella ($25), trifecta ($284.60)
July 28 – Amy C ($9.20)
Sunday – Gold Phoenix ($11)
Friday - Bus Buzz ($5.80), trifecta ($82.80)