Columnist Steve Carp: Let bettors beware at ol’ Del Mar

Steve Carp

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 9:44 a.m.

Steve Carp is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at carp@lasvegassun.com or 259-4087.

For those of you who plan to spend the next few days in the racebooks of Las Vegas, we bring you the following public service announcement:

Warning: Beware of wagering on thoroughbreds that are running on a new, untested surface. Handicapping can be hazardous to your bankroll.

Betting on the horses is always a precarious occupation. Been that way since ancient times when Ben Hur thought he was home with three in the lane, only to have his horse break stride and the wheel come off of the sulky, er, chariot.

And for those who have been looking forward to today after enduring those short fields at Hollywood Park, please temper your enthusiasm. It may be opening day at Del Mar, that scenic resort track north of San Diego, but it's potentially a tear-the-hair-out-of-your-head day, too.

You may or may not be aware, but they've put in an entirely new dirt racing surface around the main oval. Officials said it wasn't the much-publicized rash of horses breaking down last year that prompted them to change the track. Instead, they cite the fact the oval sits right off the Pacific Ocean and there is a lot of subsurface moisture in the base of the track.

The hope is to create a more stable, more even racing surface. If it's safer, so much the better. For those who are attempting to pick winners, it means Del Mar isn't the safest place to be.

The traditional trends associated with handicapping Del Mar may not apply. The rail may not be the best place to be. Being on the outside may not be death to the bettor. The speed may not be golden. You could see horses coming from out of the clouds to win. Just don't rip up your ticket if the field is headed for the far turn and announcer Trevor Denman hasn't called your horse's name since the gates opened. You never know what can happen.

Boy, isn't that the truth at renovated Del Mar?

The smart bettor is going to plop down in his or her chair, take meticulous notes on what kind of trip the winners are getting and wait. But that may not matter because what happens today at Del Mar might not necessarily repeat itself Friday or Saturday. It could be the exact opposite.

You may or may not believe in the concept of track bias, which is to say how the track is playing that particular day. If you ignore it, you may be asking for trouble. If you heed its call, you still may get hurt if the bias changes.

This may be the one day you don't need to buy a Racing Form. You might be better off going on a hunch that you like the horse's name or you have an affinity for gray horses.

Simply put, there's no way of knowing. But I'll lay 6-5 that the majority of the patrons in the books today are going to bet the way they have at Del Mar for years and to hell with biases, trip handicapping and anything else.

They'll look for speed on or near the rail. They'll bet the top jockeys and trainers. They'll look for those "horses for courses," the ones that traditionally do well at Del Mar.

Of course, you'd probably have a better shot handicapping the daily mule race at the Solano County Fair than you will trying to pick a winner today at Del Mar. But that's not going to deter you, is it?

Hell, no. You're going to shred because you've been waiting all summer for today. And new surface or old surface, you're going to the windows.

Fine. Just be careful. And consider yourself warned.