Del Mar: Longshot for the $17,616 Super High 5 carryover

Most non-jackpot Super High 5 carryovers come in on the small side—a few thousand dollars at most. That’s not the case on Sunday at Del Mar. The final race of the weekend at the seaside oval features a $17,616 Super High 5 carryover.

The Sunday finale is Race 11 (post time 10:08 p.m. ET), a $20,000 allowance optional claimer for California-bred fillies and mares racing one mile on turf. It’s a tricky race to handicap for many reasons, including the large 13-horse field (which includes one also-eligible entrant).

#9 Moment’s Pleasure (5-2) is a formidable favorite after finishing second by a neck over this distance and class level at Santa Anita last month. Two starts back, she ran second by one length in the one-mile Fran’s Valentine S. at Santa Anita. It’s hard to knock Moment’s Pleasure’s form, and a top-three finish under hot jockey Hector Berrios (a 20% winner on turf this year) seems likely.

#1 Court Snort (3-1) is another logical threat. She’s won three of her last five starts over a variety of distances and surfaces, and during the spring she rallied to finish second by only half a length over this distance and class level at Santa Anita. Court Snort’s stretch-running style is well suited to the Del Mar grass, and red-hot jockey Umberto Rispoli (a 29% winner at Del Mar this meet) is picking up the mount, so there’s a lot to like about Court Snort.

But if you want to throw a longshot into the mix (even on top), take a look at #6 Dontmesswithtess (12-1). The six-year-old mare is making her Del Mar debut after competing for years in Florida and New York. It’s been quite a while since she scored her last turf win in a $20,000 claimer at Gulfstream Park in January 2023, but the best of her recent Brisnet Speed ratings on grass are respectable, and facing California-breds at Del Mar might be just the class drop Dontmesswithtess needs to spring a surprise at double-digit odds.

By counting on Moment’s Pleasure and Court Snort to finish in the top four, and by mixing Dontmesswithtess into all slots (including on top), we can set the stage to cash a lucrative Super High 5 payoff. Good luck!