Scott & Gino Preview Hollywood Derby at Del Mar This Saturday

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00:00Scott will head out west for the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby.

00:03This is going to be on Saturday.

00:04It's closing weekend over at Del Mar.

00:06Some really good action out there.

00:08And in this Grade 1, $300,000, a mile and an eighth on the turf course.

00:12We'll kick things off with the one Maz, the French Brett,

00:15who comes off a runner-up effort in the Twilight Derby.

00:18He was behind Tescor, who's likely going to be favored in this race.

00:23And Maz stayed towards the inside.

00:25Tescor moved to the outside.

00:27Maz was a solid second that day.

00:28I don't think he would have beat Tescor.

00:31But I do like the way he's progressing.

00:33And he looks like a horse who will sit back.

00:35He'll make one late run if they go fast enough.

00:37And he'll at least pick up some pieces.

00:39Yeah, no, I like the progression a lot.

00:40And I even wanted to like him and maybe think he could take that step forward

00:44to turn the tables on Tescor.

00:46The biggest problem here is, again, there's just not a ton of speed.

00:49That last race, there wasn't a lot.

00:51This is a tougher field.

00:52And I just don't know how he's going to make it to the wire first,

00:55given the race dynamics.

00:57One of those speeds should be Friendly Confines, who's right next door.

01:01He's multiple stakes placed.

01:03But he was second best when he faced Tempest Volat, rival in this race.

01:07And that was back on October the 30th.

01:09It was like they both went for the lead.

01:11Friendly Confines kept that speed.

01:14Tempest Volat set off a little bit.

01:16And that may have been the difference there.

01:18Can you give this guy a chance to wire the field?

01:20I can.

01:21I wanted to give him more of a chance because I just think he's going to be loose in the lead.

01:25And I wanted to say that he could, you know, Tempest Volat will be happy to sit second.

01:29I just struggled to see how the mile in an eight would work to his advantage.

01:33We move to Tescor.

01:34I had the privilege of chatting with trainer Graham Motion a few days ago.

01:38It's going to be out on a future episode of the Off the Track podcast.

01:41We talked about this horse who's been so consistent all year, Scott.

01:44I mean, he has been in most of the big battles for horses in this division since about April.

01:50When you look at the Transylvania and in all of the races where they've been running three-year-olds on the grass for big money, he's been there.

01:57He showed up in just about every race with a good performance.

02:00Here he is beating a much softer group.

02:02This was an easy group that he beat.

02:04He's a lot better than that field.

02:05But Graham Motion has done a fantastic job sending horses out to the West Coast.

02:10Over the last year, he's 5 for 11 with horses in Southern California in stakes races.

02:16He just has a good feel for these horses on the grass in divisions just like this.

02:21I mean, he's not going to be a great price, but he just fits really well in here.

02:25He sure does.

02:26And I mean, the two losses since July 4th or before July 4th, the Saratoga Derby, he brought back quicker than he wanted to.

02:34I think he felt like it wasn't the plan, but he kind of pushed him forward because he was doing so well.

02:38And then again, 28 days later in a mile and 5-16th race over the quirky Kentucky Downs course.

02:45So he's done very little wrong.

02:46I think it's going to be a very tough proposition to beat him here at a mile and 8th.

02:51If you're trying to beat him, one of the major players is Salamis.

02:54I've gone Salamis, Salamis back and forth.

02:56I trust our colleague David Aragona more than I trust myself.

02:59I think he was going Salamis, so that's where we'll go.

03:02So his stakes winner still has some upside.

03:04Dan was a grade 1 winner at a mile.

03:06Half sibling to a multiple graded stakes winner named Suggesta, who I think is actually running on Sunday.

03:11And two starts back, he beat a horse named Capitol Hill, who won next time out.

03:16Was right behind a horse named Giacoso, Scott, who I think we talked about when we previewed a race just last weekend.

03:22Giacoso came back to win a grade 3.

03:24Salamis checks a lot of boxes.

03:26I think his last effort may be a little better than it might look on paper.

03:30Yeah, he really hasn't, he didn't get a setup in that race, and you know, he needs one.

03:33My problem is, is I think he needs another setup here.

03:36Yeah.

03:36And I don't know if, you know, on my own and 8th is his game.

03:39Maybe, you know, I trust Chad Brown's knowledge of his horses, third off the layoff.

03:43He's not necessarily bred to want more ground.

03:46Kokusan is still a maiden.

03:47Perhaps a horse who should be forwardly placed in here coming off recent races where he showed some speed.

03:53I think he'll probably be sitting second or third early.

03:56Yeah, he's hard to get to here.

03:57He's a maiden and, you know, really hasn't taken on, like, much better fields of, you know.

04:02Kokusan is very much up against it.

04:04I don't want to talk too much about Noble Confessor, because I actually don't know if he got on the plane.

04:07I was reading that about him, but he would be an underhorse, right?

04:11Yeah, so, like, we can kind of just go right past him.

04:13Cop the next one out, Scott, steps up off of kind of a lackluster effort.

04:18I was kind of surprised to see him in this spot, because he seems like this is a little tough for him.

04:23I would agree with that.

04:24I don't need to take any more of the time.

04:26Tempest Volokh comes off of a nice win last time out.

04:28He showed he could sit off the pace a little bit.

04:31Do you think he's got a shot in here?

04:32I think he's a couple low, but that tactical speed seems to work well for him.

04:36Getting that mile on an 8th, the pedigree says he can.

04:39On the track, I just don't know.

04:41Tom's magic rounds out the field.

04:43He was the runner-up in the Kings Plate, which is the Canadian Kentucky Derby.

04:48He actually won the Breeders, which would have been like the Canadian Belmont Stakes.

04:53Now he's going to step up against Open Company, and he's cutting back from a mile and a half in here.

04:58What do we do with Tom's magic rounding out this field?

05:01Talented horse will be able to get the distance.

05:03The outside draw, not ideal.

05:05He has to prove himself, like you said, against Open Company and shipping out west.

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