How to Bet Saturday’s Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar

Saturday’s secondary feature race at Del Mar is the $200,000 Sorrento Stakes (G2) for two-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track. The six-horse field is led by morning-line favorite Amalfi Princess (#3) (8-5), a fast and impressive first-out winner for trainer Simon Callaghan. She will likely face her toughest challenge from Comical (#1) (2-1), trained by Doug O’Neill and coming all the way back west after a successful trip to Saratoga, where she knocked off the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) over a tough field in her last race. ANALYSIS Comical is the horse to beat based on her prior graded-winning experience and her winning experience at the Sorrento’s six-furlong distance. She’ll be tested in the Sorrento, mainly by the strong on-the-pace, off-the-pace 1-2 punch of trainer Simon Callaghan with Amalfi Sunrise and Shedareshedevil (#4) (3-1). Those horses encompass the three favorites in the wagering, so you’ll need to take a stand somewhere. The recommendation is to bet trifectas with Comical on top of the Callaghan duo, as well as Powerfulattraction (#2) (5-1), who will potentially add value to your exotics and still has plenty of upside with the help of first-time Lasix. WAGERS $2 Trifecta key 1  /  2, 3, 4  /  2, 3, 4 = $12 Here’s a brief look at the Sorrento field: COMICAL (#1) (2-1) won her maiden at first asking back on Memorial Day weekend at Santa Anita Park, and that victory was enough to convince trainer Doug O’Neill to ship to Saratoga for the Schuylerville Stakes (G3), where she pressed the pace, took over and held on to dispose of a very tough field. Not sure she’ll face any better here than the ones she just beat three weeks ago, and she’s already a proven graded winner at six furlongs. The other horses in this field are all one-time winners of races between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 furlongs. Comical also gets a little lucky in this race because she owns sharp tactical speed and this race does not appear to be loaded with front runners. Unless the shipping back and forth across the country took something out of her, she’s the horse to beat. POWERFULATTRACTION (#2) (5-1) came from off the pace at Los Alamitos to win her career debut last out and was pulling away late at five furlongs. The waters get a lot deeper in this spot against four other good-looking winners, but this horse was impressive enough in her first start to merit consideration here and she still has loads of upside with first-time Lasix for this outing. AMALFI SUNRISE (#3) (8-5) won by 6+ lengths at first asking last out for trainer Simon Callaghan and earned a giant 101 BRIS Speed figure at 4 1/2 furlongs in the process. She was well bet in that debut and certainly was no secret, and the victory was impressive in that she did not get things her own way up front when forced to press a fast early pacesetter before taking over and drawing clear. She could hook up on the front end with Comical in this race, and will need to have enough in reserve to hold off the closers at six furlongs. SHEDARESTHEDEVIL (#4) (3-1) is the “other” Simon Callghan-trained runner in this race, coming to his barn after breaking her maiden at first asking at Churchill Downs back on June 13. She rallied from a few lengths off the pace to score by three lengths at 5 1/2 furlongs, and gives Callaghan a strong 1-2 punch from off the pace along with the trainer’s speedy Amalfi Sunrise. PRINCESS MO (#5) (20-1) is a maiden who lands in an extremely tough spot to look for what will be her maiden win in this stakes race. The filly was soundly beaten by Amalfi Sunrise in the first start for both horses last time out, settling for a distant third after trying to rally from far back but flattening out at 4 1/2 furlongs. This is a tough assignment, even if she does improve with the added real estate. SHANGHAI KEELY (#6) (10-1) crushed Pleasanton maidens in her first career start last out in a five-furlong turf dash, but that was a soft spot relative to some of these rivals and her BRIS Speed figures will need to get better in order to repeat versus this bunch. She fended off another front-running challenger to win that career debut, but wasn’t going that fast up front and probably won’t make the lead against these. PHOTO: Comical and jockey Javier Castellano earn a close win in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga on July 11, 2019 (c) Adam Coglianese Photography/Derbe Glass