Top pick: #6 (SELECTION) (9-2) - Barn (Tom Proctor) decisively improves in winning percentage second time out. This son of "Candy Ride" raced evenly after a slow start and he also encountered some traffic debuting here in a sprint July 19th. Proctor has worked him an amazing six times since and I like this home breds chances.
2nd pick: #1 (Stellar Act) (5-1) - Nice debut here Aug. 7 saw him rally from close range to finish second going 6-furlongs for an $80K tag. He's worked twice since and draws the rail for a trainer (Keith Desormeaux) who has had a solid meet.
3rd pick: #8 (Nakamoto) (5-1) - He's going turf to "poly" for the Kitchingman barn after a solid third-place finish here at this level and distance on the grass July 30th. He's worked three times since and should be involved from gate-to-wire.
4th pick: #5 (Conquest Hiosilver) (4-1) - Trainer Mark Casse has had some tough racing luck in his first year with a string at Del Mar and has gone 27-3-9-3 to date. This debuting colt is working nicely and has Talamo aboard for his initial outing.
5th pick: #9 (Gem Twist) (6-1) - Firster from the Hollendorfer barn (34% with debuting runners) is working above average and has been in steady training since late May. Can factor, but this is a tough distance for a "firster" and also a tough post.