Racing! Rosario picks up mount on Accelerate

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we return with a new set of stewards’ rulings.

It’s always a short time between newsletters during the Del Mar meeting and not much has happened since we last talked.

Del Mar seems to be off to a really strong start after two weeks. Attendance is up and so is handle and that is how, in the end, all things are measured. Field sizes also remain strong. This weekend has three graded stakes races but we have to wait until Aug. 18 for the Pacific Classic for another Grade 1.

And speaking of the Pacific Classic, Joel Rosario will ride the presumptive favorite, Accelerate, for John Sadler and the Hronis brothers. The mount became available when Victor Espinoza cracked his vertebrae in a training spill. Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form has all the details. Just click here.

Our weekly feature

Got a lot of nice emails from you folks about how much you like the new feature of the weekly stewards’ rulings. I also warned you they aren’t always very interesting and this week proves me right. So, here is the latest finger-wagging by the Del Mar stewards:

--On July 27, trainer G.F. Almeida was fined $200 for being late to the receiving barn with Treasure Hunter, who ran in the fourth race on July 26. (The gelding finished third.)

--On July 29, trainer Bob Hess, Jr., was fined $200 for violating a rule regarding the examination of how Smart Dorie was shod for the second race on July 28. (The filly finished fifth.)

--On July 29, jockey Mike Smith was fined $100 for excessive whipping (more than three times without giving the horse a chance to respond). It was his first offense in the last 60 days. The horse, Grecian Fire, finished second in the Califiornia Dreamin’ Stakes.

Del Mar preview

Wednesday’s card is eight races including a Cal-bred stakes race. First post is 2 p.m. There are only two turf races as Del Mar does not give its grass course the pounding that Santa Anita does. Of course, Santa Anita has 1 ½ turf courses.

The feature is the $100,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders Assn. stakes. We’ll just call it the CTBA stakes. It should be going off at about 5 p.m. It’s a 5 ½-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies.

The favorite is Lippy, at 5-2, who has won two of her three races. Her first two races were at Santa Anita and her last out was at the Pleasanton fair, where she won the Juan Gonzalez Memorial stakes. Doug O’Neill is the trainer and Mario Guiterrez is the rider, so you know who’s the owner.

The second favorite is Accomplishedsister for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and jockey Mike Smith. She won her first race at Golden Gate and then finished second to Lippy by 1 ¼ lengths.

Bob Ike’s DMR pick of the day

SECOND RACE: No. 3 Ransomed (5-1)

Over the years, one of my favorite handicapping angles has been playing horses first off the Bill Spawr claim, especially after they are raised in class despite sitting out of claiming “jail.” Ransomed, who falls under this category, beat softer $16,000 restricted claimers on June 21 and now gets a confident class boost to $25,000 while making her first start for Spawr. Plus, she broke her maiden over this track last year.

Sunday’s result: Jefe couldn't keep up early but finished pretty well for third and acts like he will continue to improve with added distance.

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.