How to bet the 2024 Native Diver Stakes

Six will go postward at Del Mar on Saturday in the $100,000 Native Diver S. (G3). The nine-furlong contest looks like a good spot for the talented #3 Skinner (5-1) to pick up his first victory in the stakes ranks, and I will side with the John Shirreffs trainee. By Curlin, the colt has been consistently pretty good in his lifetime while facing top company, and he will go one better after finishing second best in the race in 2023. 

Native Diver Wagers

• $15 exacta 3 with 1,2 ($30)
• $5 trifecta key 3 with 1,2 ($10)

The $510,000 juvenile purchase is twice Grade-1 placed and has hit the board in three of his five lifetime outings at Del Mar. A rallying second last time in a sprint allowance off the 11-month absence, the Kentucky-bred shows a pair of solid morning drills to ready for this contest and will undoubtedly appreciate the stretch out in distance on this occasion. I feel that there will be enough early speed in the race to aid his substantial late kick with Hector Berrios inheriting the mount. 

Bob Baffert has a pair of major players in the field, including the lightly raced #2 Ultra Power (2-1). Also by Curlin, the talented gray has put in a pair of good runs in 2024, and the sophomore could peak while making his third run off the shelf. The Don Alberto homebred was a dominant allowance victor on the oval two back, and while he burned cash as the even-money choice in an allowance tilt most recently, the colt still ran a good one and fits well in his graded stakes debut. Go-to pilot Juan Hernandez will be in the stirrups. 

#1 Mirahmadi (6-1) finally broke through in his ninth lifetime try at Santa Anita last out, and the expensive son of Into Mischief did so in a big way. The seven-figure yearling purchase appreciated the move to 1 1/16 miles in his latest venture, and his early speed from the rail will be dangerous in the contest if he breaks well. This Kentucky-bred colt has posted a quartet of morning drills leading up to Saturday, and he has to be given a legitimate chance despite the massive class rise from the maiden ranks. Martin Garcia comes in to guide the bay.