Del Mar Picks: Best Bets for Del Mar Handicap Day, 8/29/2026

Key Takeaways:

• Del Mar’s Saturday card features a pair of Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” stakes, with the Del Mar Handicap and Pat O’Brien offering opportunities on both turf and dirt.
• The 10-race card should offer good conditions for handicapping, with warm, sunny weather expected and several races where pace and trip could be especially important.
• He’s a Knockout brings the strongest early speed to Race 7 and could control things up front, while Septembersixtyfour has the stalking style to capitalize if the speed horses overdo it.
• Hankering has already shown plenty of fight against older horses and should benefit from cutting back to six furlongs, making him a strong candidate to be involved from the start in Race 8.
• Big City Lights and Dr. Venkman both have proven seven-furlong form, but Big City Lights gets the nod off his career-best recent form while Dr. Venkman’s perfect record in seven-furlong exactas makes him a serious threat.

A bid to the Breeders’ Cup Turf is at stake in Saturday’s Del Mar feature, the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap. On top of that, there’s the fact that West Coast turf fixture Gold Phoenix will be trying to win that race for an unprecedented fifth time in a row. However, the Del Mar Handicap is not the only action Saturday where the turf meets the surf.

There’s another Breeders’ Cup bid just one race earlier on the card: the Pat O’Brien (G2) offers its winner a guaranteed spot in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The race has produced Dirt Mile winners like Goldencents and Catalina Cruiser, though given the seven-furlong distance of the race, it can also produce live Breeders’ Cup Sprint contenders as well.

Del Mar’s 10-race Saturday card gets underway at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, with the stakes action starting at 6 p.m. PDT. Make sure to get the latest news on the contenders and watch all the races on FanDuel TV, and be part of the action by betting the races on FanDuel!

Saturday is supposed to be a warm, sunny California day, so conditions on both the dirt and the turf course should be excellent, though weather can always change closer to the time. Make sure to check the scratches on race day before you place your bets. After all, scratches can happen for any reason and can affect the pace and class balances of the race. And, information is your best tool when betting the races!

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Horse Racing Tips

These are three free picks including handicapping analysis for races on Saturday’s Del Mar Handicap card:

Race 7 - Allowance optional claiming, N1X or $50,000 claiming price, six furlongs on the dirt - Septembersixtyfour, He’s a Knockout

FanDuel odds: 7-2 and 6-1

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There are quite a few in this field who like to show speed, so Septembersixtyfour (7-2) has found a good spot. He comes second off the lay; he already has precedent for winning second off the lay, as his maiden win came last year in his second career start. That also came in stalk-and-pounce style, the same kind of race shape he showed last out in his first-ever start on the dirt. That was a solid race: a new surface, his first start off a lay, and he didn’t have the best start. With so many in this field who have yet to show they can win if they don’t make the top, it could get frisky, and Septembersixtyfour is well set to pick them off in the stretch.

He’s a Knockout (6-1) cuts back in trip after a seven-furlong Cal-bred stakes win. It was his dirt debut and the Carla Gaines trainee handled the main track just as well as he handled sprinting on the grass in his first two starts. This is a turn back in trip, but he showed enough speed on debut going a flat five furlongs that he should cut back well – and he also went very fast early in that seven-furlong race last out, fast enough to suggest he should be the speed of the speed in this spot. Joel Rosario is back in the saddle for He’s a Knockout’s first try against open company and he looks like the best of the speed brigade.

Race 8 - $12,500 claiming, non-winners of two races lifetime, six furlongs on the dirt - Hankering, Stanford Dropout

FanDuel odds: 5-1 and 3-1

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Speed from outside gates is good to have in six-furlong dirt sprints at Del Mar. Hankering (5-1) has showed pace in both of his starts so far, and has shown a lot more fight than your average low-level claiming horse. He battled all the way around and scored by a nose on debut at 5 ½ furlongs, despite being a three-year-old facing older horses, and then was third, beaten only a neck last out at this level going 6 ½ furlongs over this track. It was a good effort second out, facing a large field of foes and breaking from a near-outside gate that time too. He stays at the same level, should benefit from the cut back in trip, has enough early pace to match or even outjump his foes in this spot, and he should be a threat from start to finish.

Stanford Dropout (3-1) is another three-year-old facing older; unlike Hankering, this will be his first race facing older company. He is mired down on the inside, but he showed a lot of grit last out when he was second in an open $12,500 claimer for three-year-olds going five and a half furlongs. This will be his first time stretching past that distance, but he should have no problem with the extra distance, and that sharp 5 ½-furlong speed should put him right on the front going six. Running against a bunch of non-two-lifers who aren’t great at passing horses, it’s a good place to be.

Race 9 - Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2), seven furlongs on the dirt - Big City Lights, Dr. Venkman

FanDuel odds: 7-2 and 6-1

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Though the Pat O’Brien is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, its seven-furlong distance means it always draws a mixture of sprinters and milers, and can have implications for both divisions. The race should also be an interesting betting race – especially since trainer Bob Baffert always takes money. However, his entrant in the race, March of Time, has yet to even try seven furlongs, much less win at the trip.

Big City Lights (7-2) is a California-bred, but he has some form against open company. He was third in this race two years ago as a five-year-old, but is in the best form of his life so far for the patient trainer Richard Mandella this year. He beat state-breds in the Thor’s Echo last out, and two back won a top-shelf allowance. Both times he won in stalk-and-pounce fashion; that two-back score came at seven furlongs, and even though both of those races were at Santa Anita, he has won twice over the course and hit the board in six of his seven there.

Dr. Venkman (6-1) has never run out of the exacta in five seven-furlong dirt sprints. Though he ran off the board in the six-furlong Bing Crosby (G1), that was similar to his prep last out, a flat outing in that six-furlong race. He bounced back nicely to win this race last year, and if he takes a step forward third off the lay he should be a serious contender once again. Trainer Mark Glatt and Umberto Rispoli are having good summers at Del Mar, and it would be no surprise if they keep it going with this seven-furlong specialist.

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