Key Races & Bets for Saturday, July 26th, 2025
San Diego Handicap - Race 8 at Del Mar - Post Time 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 PM Eastern
Win contenders: Express Train, Nysos
Express Train won the 2021 San Diego Handicap and although now an eight-year-old has more than a decent shot to win this year’s edition and perhaps provide a nice profit because the two Bob Baffert trained entrants, Nysos and Mirahmadi, will be heavily bet. Express Train is still pretty game, with TWO runner-up efforts in graded stakes in a row. The cut back from 10 furlongs to one mile and one-sixteenth could be just what he needs to win, because in the San Pasqual Stakes one before last he was in front at that point in the race before settling for second. In this field, Midnight Mammoth, whose last two wins came when in front from start to finish, will likely be sent for the front from the rail, and Mirahmadi is also a need-the-lead type. Maldonado will likely send Tarantino to the front from the start as that’s how they earned the horse’s last win. Express Train can sit in fourth exactly as he did in the San Pasqual and take over. Then, Nysos may or may not go by him the same way Katonah passed Express Train to win the San Pasqual.
Nysos stretches out third off the layoff, often a peak effort in a horse’s form cycle, and won the previous time he ran two turns. He earned a field high 117 Equibase Speed Figure winning the seven furlong Triple Bend Stakes in his most recent race and is on a pattern to run even better, so could be a legitimate favorite BUT just the same will offer no value for a win bet. We should still use him, along with Express Train, on any double or pick 3 tickets played involving this race.
Handicapper Picks
Win: Express Train at odds of 5 to 2 or more.
Exacta: Box Express Train and Nysos then also play a straight exacta of Nysos over Express Train because that exacta is going to pay less than the other way around and we want to make about the same profit either way so winning the exacta twice may help.
Use both Express Train and Nysos on any double or pick 3 tickets played involving this race.
Daisycutter Handicap - Race 9 at Del Mar - Post Time 6:03 Pacific, 9:03 PM Eastern
Top win contenders: Granny Budgie, Ang N Ash, Lovin’ On the Run
For exactas: Pushiness
Granny Budgie, Ang N Ash and Lovin On the Run all should be closing FAST after the sizzling early pace duel between Pushiness and Imaboutago, pressed by Spicybug, takes it toll on the front runners, even at this five-furlong trip. Granny Budgie won a six furlong sprint one before last, beating Pushiness, and she has now won six of 10 turf sprints in her career. The outside post gives her a slight edge over the other two closers as well.
Ang N Ash, like Granny Budgie, also won the last time she ran on the flat, rather than downhill course, also at six furlongs. That was in March where she flew home after being fifth with an eighth of a mile to run. She has ALSO won at this five furlong turf trip, twice, in two tries, back-to-back last August and September, and she ALSO likes to win, with four wins in her last nine turf sprints.
Lovin’ On the Run won the only time she ran at this trip, last September, at Del Mar, 20 days before Ang N Ash did the same thing. She was claimed by O’Neill for 32K out of a strong win at six furlong in May, and won five weeks ago in her second start since changing trainers. Fresu rode her great that day and rides back.
Pushiness has held on for second three times in 10 tries, including two of three on turf, while the other speedball (Imaboutago) hasn’t hit the board when she doesn’t win. Pushiness gets Hernandez, and although I think she is susceptible to being passed late she could hang on to complete the exacta.
Handicapper Picks
Win: Granny Budgie and Ang N Ash should be considered for win bets at 2 to 1 or more and I would not hesitate betting both if both are 3 to 1 or more.
Lovin’ On the Run can be considered for a win bet at 4 to 1 or more.
If we do get better than fair odds on two of the three, we can gain the best mathematical edge possible by using a “Dutching” tool to prorate our wagers. There is a free Dutching tool at Amwager where all we have to do is select the total we want to wager and then select two horses and all the work is done for us. That’s one of many great tools and perks at Amwager.
Exacta: Granny Budgie, Ang N Ash and Lovin’ On the Run over Granny Budgie, Ang N Ash, Lovin’ On the Run and Pushiness.
Bing Crosby Stakes - Race 10 at Del Mar - Post Time 6:30 Pacific, 9:30 PM Eastern
Win contenders: World Record, Roll On Big Joe, Crazy Mason
For some exacta tickets, in the second position: Dr. Venkman, Hejazi, Mbagnick
World Record hasn’t yet set a world record but he’s run exceptionally fast, such as when winning in May of this year and running six furlongs in a sizzling 1:07.84, earning a 111 Equibase Speed Figure which is the third highest figure earned by any horse in this field for the distance of the Bing Crosby, just behind the 114 figure Roll On Big Joe earned winning the Palos Verdes Stakes in February and the 112 figure Mbagnick earned winning an allowance/optional claiming race last month. Since adding blinkers in June of last year, World Record has won three of five races, including the Amsterdam Stakes one year ago. Following the win in May, World Record may have returned a bit too soon in his second start back off the long layoff in the Aristides Stakes, where he led by a length in the stretch and was caught and passed but still battled gamely to the wire to end up in a dead heat for second. Coming into the Bing Crosby World Record has been rested nearly two months and can fire fresh as he did in May. Not only does jockey Flavien Prat get the most out of World Record when aboard, but (per a Race Lens query) Prat and trainer Rodolphe Brisset have a very strong record going back four years where they have combined to win 13 of 43 races (25%), with 28 of those 43 starters having finished in the money. Prat leads all North American jockeys in 2025 to date, winning 156 of 631 races (25%) and Prat having chosen to ride this horse and forego an entire day at Saratoga, where he has been riding daily, says a lot about the chances of World Record winning this race.
Roll On Big Joe has finished first or second in six straight races and more importantly earned wins in both stakes races he has run in over that span. He won the Palos Verdes Stakes in February at the distance of the Bing Crosby and earned a then career-best 114 figure in doing so. Two races later he won a race at Churchill Downs with a new career-best 121 figure, before winning the Kelly’s Landing Stakes four weeks ago with a 104 figure. Jockey Julien Leparoux has ridden Roll On Big Joe just twice, in both recent wins, and comes west to ride him once more. If there is a concern, it’s that the horse has nearly as many second-place finishes, six to be precise, as wins (seven) in his career. However, if he repeats either of his three most recent winning efforts, he could be very tough to beat.
Crazy Mason, like World Record and Roll On Big Joe, ships into California from parts elsewhere to try to earn a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint this fall. In sprint races on dirt, the colt has won four of seven, including the Carter Stakes in April with a 107 figure. He improved to a career-best 111 figure when third in the True North Stakes in June, a race in which he was not disgraced as the race was won by the sprint division leader, Book’em Danno, who returned to win the Vanderbilt Stakes last weekend. Crazy Mason usually races at the back of the field, having won three races in a row from January through April with visually impressive late runs. In this year’s Bing Crosby, many of the other eight have shown a tendency to lead or press the pace in the early stages, setting up Crazy Mason for a big late run once again. Having put in a scintillating 47.4 half mile workout before leaving New York, which was the best of 98 workouts on the day at the distance, Crazy Mason is showing us he remains in top form and must be respected as a contender in this year’s Bing Crosby Stakes.
Handicapper Picks
Win: World Record and Roll On Big Joe should be considered for win bets at 9 to 5 or more and I would not hesitate betting both if both are 3 to 1 or more.
Crazy Mason, who may be ignored by many bettors, can be considered for a win bet at 7 to 2 or higher.
This is another race to use the “Dutching” tool at Amwager to prorate our win bets if we are betting two (or more) horses.
Exactas:
Box World Record, Roll On Big Joe and Crazy Mason
World Record, Roll On Big Joe and Crazy Mason over World Record, Roll On Big Joe, Crazy Mason, Dr. Venkman, Hejazi and Mbagnick