East Coast shippers are prominent in this weekend's stakes action at Del Mar, featuring the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Saturday and the G1 Matriarch on Sunday as the track's Turf Festival wraps up the fall meeting. Nine are entered in the 3-year-old-restricted Hollywood Derby, while the Matriarch drew a field of 12.
Those stakes are supported by a pair of G3 turf races for 2-year-olds, the Jimmy Durante on Saturday and the Cecil Demille on Sunday.
On Saturday at Aqueduct, a quartet of graded stakes races are the highlight of a solid Cigar Mile (G2) card. Todd Fincher trainee Senor Buscador has shipped East to be the slight Cigar Mile favorite over 11 rivals. Included on the afternoon's card are two races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks: the Remsen and the Demoiselle, respectively.
Also on Saturday is the $1 million Claiming Crown, a series of races for former claiming horses which will be held at the Fair Grounds this year, as well as a pair of Florida Sires Stakes races at Gulfstream Park.
Saturday
3:45 p.m. – Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct
The Remsen, carded as Race 9, awards the top-five finishers with 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points, respectively, towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs.
Dornoch, full brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mage, will attempt to give trainer Danny Gargan a repeat victory in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen, a nine-furlong route for juveniles, at Aqueduct Racetrack. Dornoch arrives from a dominant 6 1/2-length victory at third asking with a gate-to-wire performance on October 14 at Keeneland, garnering an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. His graduation came on the heels of a close runner-up effort to Noted in the one-mile Sapling in August at Monmouth Park where he raced wide and was jostled near the seven-eighths mark.
Copper Tax [post 9, Kendrick Carmouche] streaks in off five consecutive victories for conditioner Gary Capuano, most recently shipping out of Delaware Park for the first time to capture the six-furlong James F. Lewis, III on November 11 at Laurel Park. The son of Copper Bullet was bumped at the start and trailed farther off the pace than he had ever been in his six lifetime outings, but overcame the challenge to rally late and notch the neck score over Inveigled.
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out two contenders in the regally-bred debut winner Sierra Leone [post 7, Jose Ortiz] and second-out maiden-winner Domestic Product [post 2, Manny Franco].
Sierra Leone made his highly anticipated debut on November 4 with a rallying 1 1/4-length score after bobbling at the start and racing five-wide in the stretch to sweep past Change of Command and complete the mile in 1:36.94. The son of Gun Runner was a $2.3 million purchase at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and is out of the Grade 1-winning Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love. This third dam, the multiple graded stakes-winner Roamin Rachel, also produced 2004 Japanese Horse of the Year Zenno Rob Roy.
Domestic Product was a winner at second asking on October 27 at Belmont at the Big A, taking a nine-furlong maiden tilt by 4 1/2 lengths with a prominent trip under Manny Franco. The son of Practical Joke improved greatly with a stretch-out after finishing fifth in a six-furlong sprint on debut in August at Saratoga.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will also be represented by a pair of contenders as Moonlight [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] and Private Desire [post 10, Jose Lezcano] each vie for their first stakes victory.
Moonlight enters from a closing runner-up effort over sloppy and sealed going in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Street Sense on October 29 at Churchill Downs where he made a bid from fourth down the stretch and came up 2 3/4 lengths shy of Liberal Arts. The son of Audible was making his stakes debut off a dominant second-out maiden conquest on September 28 at Belmont at the Big A when annexing a one-mile off-the-turf maiden by eight lengths and garnering a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
Private Desire looks to rebound from an even fourth-place effort last out in the one-mile Nashua on November 5 where he raced greenly at the seven-eighths and was wide into the stretch. The son of Constitution boasts a field-best 94 Beyer for a second-out graduation sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on September 16 over the Big A main track. He finished fourth in a July 29 maiden at Saratoga where Dornoch also debuted and finished second.
Where's Chris [post 8, Isaac Castillo] will look to double up on stakes scores for trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. after winning the one-mile Nashua by three-quarter lengths on November 5 here. The son of Twirling Candy stalked a half-length off pacesetting post-time favorite Book'em Danno in second before coming to even terms with his foe at the top of the lane. The pair drew off and dueled strongly down the stretch with Where's Chris coming out on top in a final time of 1:36.75.
Completing the field are Nashua third-place finisher Billal [post 6, Junior Alvarado], who races with blinkers off for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott; and maiden winners Drum Roll Please [post 5, Javier Castellano] for trainer Brad Cox and Le Dom Bro [post 1, Jose Gomez] for conditioner Eniel Cordero.
4:12 p.m. – Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct
Senor Buscador will cut back sharply in distance as he headlines a talented 12-horse field in the $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap. Trained by Todd Fincher, Senor Buscador enters from a seventh-place effort in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4 at Santa Anita Park. With Geovanni Franco up from post 8, Senor Buscador rallied from last-of-12 and well off the pace to finish 5 1/4-lengths back of the victorious White Abarrio.
Hoist the Gold [post 11, John Velazquez, 121 pounds] also arrives from an off-the-board effort at the Breeders' Cup where he finished sixth in the Grade 1 Sprint. Trained by Dallas Stewart, the 4-year-old Mineshaft colt left post 3-of-8 under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the six-furlong sprint as Speed Boat Beach rocketed through splits of 21.99 seconds and 44.35, setting it up for the late kick of Elite Power to win by 1 1/2-lengths in a final time of 1:08.34.
Everso Mischievous [post 2, Cristian Torres, 119 pounds] boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 6-4-2-0 for purse earnings of $524,640, including an impressive score last out over returning rivals Dr Ardito and Accretive in the one-mile Grade 2 Forty Niner on October 28 for trainer Brad Cox.
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will have three chances to secure his third Cigar Mile win when sending out multiple graded stakes-placed Accretive [post 10, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 121 pounds], graded stakes-placed New York-bred Dr Ardito [post 5, Manny Franco, 119 pounds] and maiden winner Cascais [post 4, Jose Ortiz, 114 pounds].
West Virginia-homebred Coastal Mission [post 1, Arnaldo Bocachica, 119 pounds] enters on a six-race win streak, all at Charles Town, for trainer Jeff Runco. The 4-year-old Great Notion gelding has won 11-of-16 starts, including a trio of stakes wins at his Charles Town base led by an open-company score two starts back in the two-turn seven-furlong Russell Road on August 25 and the state-bred West Virgina Breeders' Classic going nine furlongs last out on October 14.
Breeders' Cup alumni Three Technique [post 7, Javier Castellano, 120 pounds] will look to get back to winning ways following an eighth-place finish in the Sprint for trainer Jason Cook.
Rounding out a talented field are graded stakes-winner High Oak [post 6, Luis Saez, 118 pounds] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott; the multiple graded stakes-placed Pipeline [post 12, Jose Lezcano, 117 pounds] for conditioner Cherie DeVaux; stakes-winner Offaly Cool [post 8, Abner Adorno, 117 pounds] for trainer Jacinto Solis; and allowance winner Castle Chaos [post 9, Dylan Davis, 116 pounds] for trainer Robert Falcone, Jr.
6:30 p.m. – Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar
The Hollywood Derby is the first of two Grade 1 races scheduled for this weekend at Del Mar and Brown has brought the G1 Saratoga Derby winner, Program Trading, out west. The English-bred colt won the first three races of his career before running second in the G3 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs in September.
Brown also will send out Redistricting, another English-bred, this one by Kingman. His lone venture into Grade I company ended in a forgettable seventh-place finish in the Belmont Derby in July. He rebounded with a win in an entry level allowance race three months later.
Charles Appleby will send out Silver Knott, a heartbreaking second in the 2022 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf when he was nosed out by Victoria Rose. Appleby took the English-bred home for the winter and, following his 2023 debut in May, brought him back to the states.
Silver Knott has run four times since his return, but has yet to get back to the winner's circle. In his last, the G2 Twilight Agenda at Santa Anita, he finished second, a half a length behind the winner.
Webslinger comes out of the Mark Casse barn. He is an ultra-consistent son of Constitution who finished a nose behind Silver Knott in the Twilight Agenda. Of his 12 lifetime starts, he has won four wins, including the G2 American Turf on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. He finished in-the-money five other times, never more than two lengths behind the winner.
The local contingent is led by Seal Team, the impressive winner of the Twilight Agenda last out at Santa Anita on the Breeders' Cup undercard.
Others of note are Maltese Falcon, winner of the G3 La Jolla during the summer meet at Del Mar, and Reiquist, another nose back of Webslinger in fourth in the Twilight Agenda.
Sunday
6:30 p.m. – Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar
A dozen fillies and mares have signed on for the one-mile Matriarch on Del Mar's turf course, with trainer Chad Brown shipping in four for the race, including favorite Whitebeam. The winner of the G1 Diana two starts back, Whitebeam most recently finished fourth in the G1 First Lady at Keeneland.
Brown's other three entrants are multiple G2 winner Fluffy Socks, stakes winner Beaute Chachee, and multiple G3 winner Surge Capacity.
Second choice on the morning line is Michael McCarthy-trained Queen Goddess, winner of January's Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf and most recently second in the G2 Goldikova on the Breeders' Cup undercard.
Other top locally-trained entrants are Carla Gaines' Closing Remarks and Richard Mandella's Ruby Nell.
The post Weekend Lineup Presented By Del Mar: Turf Festival Draws Shippers Out West, Cigar Mile Card Lights Up East appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
