Exotics Plays for the Daisycutter Handicap

A strong cast of nine fillies and mares will run five-eighths on the Del Mar green in Saturday’s $100,000 Daisycutter H. The contender that will be a key piece for me is the Doug O’Neill-trained #9 Stay and Scam. This California-bred daughter of Square Eddie has become one of my favorites in the division out west and sports a lifetime line of 10-5-3-2 on the lawn, which includes a 2-for-2 mark at Del Mar. 

Daisycutter Exotics

• $5 exacta key box 9 with 2,5,8 ($30)
• $2 trifecta key 9 with 2,5,8 ($12)
• 50-cent superfecta 5,9 with 5,9 with 2,8 with all ($12)

Stay and Scam picked up a pair of stakes wins this season against state-bred foes, but she has performed well in open company, as well, and the bay looks perfectly spotted in the dash. She draws outside of the wealth of pace in the race which will allow Mario Gutierrez to stalk the tempo while staying clear to the top of the lane, prior to wearing down her competition late. 

Conditioner Phil D’Amato has three entered for the grassy dash, led by the accomplished #5 Elm Drive. This Grade 3 heroine is winless in her last eight appearances, but she has class and consistency. The Mohaymen five-year-old will appreciate the expected wicked early pace in front of her with Antonio Fresu riding. 

#2 Connie Swingle, also from the D’Amato shedrow, is 4-for-5 on the turf with a second in her career, which includes a victory in her lone prior showing on the surface. The Grazen gray has been off since October 2022 and will have to be very sharp to take down this quality cast, but she has been too genuine in her lifetime to ignore despite the time off. This barn can have them ready to roll off the shelf, too. 

#8 Runninwiththeboyz, the third from the D’Amato brigade, is a tricky read for me but surely worth tossing in my plays, nonetheless. The chestnut mare was a dominant, wire-to-wire winner in an allowance affair at Santa Anita most recently, and improvement is surely possible as she makes just her second run of 2024. The Liam’s Map five-year-old has won five of her nine career turf races, and she has proven to be quite capable of rallying from off the pace in the past, too. Edwin Maldonado retains the ride.