Daily Horse Racing Tips and Picks for July 25
Saratoga is offering a 10 race card and Del Mar is offering an 8 race card for Wednesday, July 25. The weatherman says that both Saratoga, NY and Del Mar, CA should offer plenty of sunshine meaning that the biggest races on the card, both turf events, could give horse racing odds handicappers plenty of reasons to open their racing forms.
Keep reading for tips and free picks for races at Saratoga and Del Mar on July 25!
Saratoga – July 25 Tips and Free Picks
Main Tip: Rely on jockey Ramon Dominguez. Dominguez goes into this week off of a six race win day this past Sunday. The awesome rider tied the record at Saratoga. He won another race on Monday bringing his win percentage to a gaudy 47%.
Top Pick Based on Morning Line: Schoolyard Dreams to win Race 8. The Richard Dutrow trainee is 6/1 on the morning line, gets Ramon D. to ride, and has speed in a race where the other contenders, Pleasant Prince, 2011 Belmont winner Ruler On Ice, and Hawthorne Gold Cup third place finisher Cease, will all be struggling to make up ground in the stretch. Go with the overlay and let everyone else jump on the name ponies.
Feature Race Pick: Medolina is 5/1 on the morning line, is undefeated and jockey Javier Castellano chose to ride her in the Grade 2 Lake George instead of jumping back onto Centre Court, whom he rode to victory in the Grade 3 Regret. That’s a big statement. Trainer Todd Pletcher feels that he’s got a serious turf filly on his hands. Nobody can argue against him. Although this field is deep, Stephanie’s Kitten has 4 victories out of 7 lifetime starts including wins in the Grade 1 Alcibiades and the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, and is 5/2 on the morning line, I like the looks of Medolina to take it home for Pletcher and Castellano.
Other Free Picks
Race 2 - - Hillswick goes first time for trainer David Jacobsen, a 21% winning move, and picks up Dominguez.
Race 6 - - Kitten’s Kid goes up in class for Nick Canani, but NC wins 34% with horses that he runs second time off of a layoff. He wins with 32% of his charges that run over the lawn and jockey Joel Rosario is still one of the best in the biz.
Del Mar – July 25 Tips and Free Picks
Main Tip: So far, Del Mar’s polytrack hasn’t shown any favoritism. Both front runners and closers can win. Considering pace when handicapping, as opposed to simply speed handicapping, becomes very important when it comes to Del Mar polytrack races.
Top Pick Based on likely Morning Line: Venomous in Race 7. If Midnight Interlude, who won the Santa Anita Derby in 2011, and Suggestive Boy, who finished second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in his last, both show up for the $85,000 Wickerr Stakes on Wednesday, then Venomous will go off at overlaid odds. The son of Red Ransom will run underneath the brilliant Garrett Gomez in this, Go-Go is winning at a 33% clip already at the meet, and has taken home over $230,000 in earnings.
Feature Race Pick: The feature race on the card is the $85,000 Wickerr Stakes, which goes off as Race 7. See above for why I like Venemous so much to take home top honors. Another reason to really like the Leonard Powell trainee is because Venomous is in this race, no doubt, to pick up dollars while Midnight Interlude and Suggestive Boy might be in the race to prep for bigger events in August or September.
Other Free Picks
Race 4 - - Malibu Knight is 2-1 lifetime out of 4 races and keeps Rafael Bejarano. This field is deep. So, horseplayers might get better odds than they should on the son of Malibu Moon.
Race 6 - - A Natural has two second place finishes at the $16,000 claiming level in her last three races. Obviously, the $16,000 claiming level is where she should be. That’s good because Race 6 at Del Mar is at that level. Jockey Joe Talamo sticks and this wide open event assure decent odds.
Good luck!
