Spa and Del Mar open! Good racing returns

Not that the racing at Ellis and Indiana Downs hasn't been challenging to handicap...and the cards have been better than expected...but great summer racing is back upon us with the opening of Del Mar earlier this week and the summer meet at Saratoga opening today.

Some notable Churchill jockeys will test their skills at Saratoga. A look at the Friday card reveals Julian Leparoux, Florent Geroux, Ricardo Santata and Joe Bravo all have rides today. They'll get plenty of challenges from the NYRA regular riders... the Ortiz boys, Johnny V., Javier, Joel, Manual Franco, Luis Saez and more.

The top trainers, the top horses, a promising group of two year olds and full fields. Welcome back Saratoga.

On the west coast, Del Mar is the epitome of California racing. You've got a great contingent of jocks to consider out there...Bearano, Nakatani, Desormeaux, Tyler Baze, Drayton Van Dyke, Tiago Pereira, Flavian Prat and Aaron Gryder...to name just a few.

We'll mostly stick with Spa handicapping here until September...when Churchill rolls back around...and that handicapping is quite challenging. Read our picks here on Saturdays.

Don't miss our excellent radio show HANDICAPPING HEROES...which airs Saturdays at noon on WCHQ 100.9 FM and streams live at www.crescenthillradio.com  You can also hear previous shows at the site, too.

High quality summer racing. Welcome back!

Got a question about racing, our methods or picks? We welcome your e-mails at:

handicappngheroes@gmail.com



paulie