Native Diver 2023 Picks

By Jarrod Horak

Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Season continues on Sunday, November 26 and I have included Native Diver 2023 picks below. The Grade 3 event for 3-year-olds and up has a $100,000 purse and the seven entrants will be traveling 1 1/8 miles on the main track. It is the 8th race on Nov. 26. 

Native Diver 2023 Picks & Final Time Ratings

Visitant will break from the rail under Flavien Prat. Peter Miller’s son of Ghostzapper is 11-for-15 on all-weather ground and 0-for-5 on conventional dirt. 

Arrowthegreat is probably the one to catch. He wired the field in his last two flat mile dirt starts vs. lesser company. The Arrogate gelding gets a class and distance test, and he will take them as far as he can. He is also entered in the Zia Park Derby on Nov. 28. 

Celestial Moon moved to the Mark Glatt barn and won a flat mile optional-claiming race at Del Mar on Sept. 3. He finished up the track in the Grade 1 Awesome Again on Sept. 30, and was a non-threatening 3rd as the beaten favorite in the Bull Dog at Fresno last time. He needs to elevate his game to compete with this group. 

Kiss Today Goodbye has been competing in longer races recently and he picked up a few minor awards. He has not won a race since the Grade 2 San Antonio in 2020.   

Newgrange won the Grade 3 Sham and Southwest as a sophomore last year. Bob Baffert had him at that time, and he moved to the Phil D’Amato barn and was a distant 3rd in the 2022 Shared Belief. He easily went all the way in a flat mile optional-claiming route last fall, and was best of the rest in 3rd in this race last year. He stalked and smartly scored in the San Pasqual (G2) on Jan. 28, and was up the track in the Big ‘Cap (G1) in March. He disappeared for more than seven months and dueled through above par splits and just held the show in a useful optional-claiming prep at Santa Anita on Oct. 6. He will probably end up chasing the pace and should get the jump on the late runners. 

Skinner placed in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) as a maiden last year. He was strong in his flat mile special weight return on Feb. 12, and hit the board in the San Felipe (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1). He peaked in the latter event and has not been able to run back to that number. He was training forwardly in advance of the Kentucky Derby (G1) but got sick and scratched. John Shirreffs was not happy with his training and he scratched out of the Affirmed in June, and he could not catch controlling speed Reincarnate in the Los Al Derby on July 8. He was off the board in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and Awesome Again in his last pair, and he meets easier and can get involved from off the pace. He is still eligible for an entry level allowance race and might be best used underneath. 

Mr Fisk is an improving sophomore for Bob Baffert. He moved forward with a flat mile maiden win on Jan. 2, and was not ready for stakes company in the San Felipe (G2) in March. He hit a new top in a runner-up finish in the Affirmed, and was no threat on turf in a throwout race in the Oceanside. He finished in a dead heat for the win with his stablemate Tahoe Sunrise in the Shared Belief at Del Mar on Sept. 3 and those two were well clear of the rest. The fresh colt is bred to enjoy the added ground of this race and he has enough positional speed to stay within hailing distance of the early leaders. He earned his best career number in the Shared Belief and might have more room to develop.

Native Diver 2023 Picks

The Native Diver is the tenth race in my Horse of the Day video series. I will cover one race each day during the 13-day Del Mar Bing Crosby Season, and the bulk of my videos will include stakes action. Check out my Native Diver 2023 picks video below.