The 2020 San Diego Handicap will be Race 10 on July 25th at Del Mar. Post time is set for 8:30 PM CT. This Grade II Race is one and one sixteenth miles and has a purse of $150,000. There are six horses in the field, but all eyes are on Maximum Security. Last year’s winner was Catalina Cruiser for the second straight year. Let’s take a look at the rankings for this year’s field.
In my algorithm, there are several factors I take into consideration including the horse’s past performances, workouts, winnings as well as the jockey’s performances and winnings. Let’s check out the rankings for the six horses entered in this year’s San Diego Handicap.
Maximum Security has won four races in a row including his last in the Saudi Cup and eight of 10 career races. One of the losses was a disqualification after winning the Kentucky Derby and the other was a second place finish in the Pegasus last June. But after a phenomenal effort to win the Saudi Cup against a stacked field (Midnight Bisou, Tacitus, McKinzie, Gronkowski, Mucho Gusto…), he is the even-money morning line favorite.
It’s unclear who the second-best horse is in this field. I like Sharp Samurai at bit of a price because of his high speed figures over the last three (115, 116 and 106). However, Higher Power ran a 111 in his last and Midcourt and Combatant are very capable in here too.
I have run the 2020 San Diego Handicap 1,000 times in simulations. Below are the results of those races.
Quick Wrap Up and Betting Strategies
Most Likely to Win: Maximum Security (1-1)
Longer Shot I Like: Sharp Samurai (12-1)
My Bet: 5 to Win, 5-3 or 5-6 exacta
Superfecta: 5-3-6-1
