Eleven promising juvenile fillies will face the starter Friday at Del Mar and run six furlongs in the 53rd edition of the Sorrento Stakes. The Grade 2, $200,000 headliner will be the featured attraction on an eight-race card that has a traditional Four O'Clock Friday start at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.
Nine of the 11 2-year-olds have already won a race and one of them – King, Kirby or Kirby's Smash Ticket – did so in impressive fashion at Del Mar on July 17 in a straight maiden affair, drawing out to tally by five lengths in good time under Umberto Rispoli for New Mexico-based conditioner Todd Fincher. That dash, along with a second-place finish she turned in earlier in June at Lone Star Park in Texas, was enough for morning line maker Jon White to hang her the 9-5 favorite in the Sorrento.
Others in the field who have drawn White's eye are Little Red Feather Racing's Elm Drive, who trains out of the barn of Phil D'Amato and won her initial start at Los Alamitos on June 26 by eight lengths under Juan Hernandez. The rider returns Friday and they've drawn the role of second-favorite at 5-2. Listed at 4-1 is Baoma Corp's Eda, who missed by a whisker at Santa Anita on June 19, but was made the winner for a bumping incident with the filly Ko Olina. Bob Baffert trains Eda and once again will have Abel Cedillo in the boot.
Here's the full field for the Sorrento from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:
Marc Ricker's She's So Shiny (Ricky Gonzalez, 8-1); Smash Ticket; Eda; Donworthy or Ennis' Shesgotattitude (Trevor McCarthy, 8-1); Alydom Racing, Barragan or Lerner's Loveherheart (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1); Reddam Racing's It's Simple (Mario Gutierrez, 6-1); Agave Racing Stables or Schera's Sax (Joe Bravo, 10-1); Binder and Associates, Anderson, et al's First Promise (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 20-1); Elm Drive; Tricar Stables' Roses for Suzzett (apprentice Emily Ellingwood, 20-1), and Lovingier, Beckerle or Carrillo's At the Spa (Tyler Baze, 5-1).
The Sorrento is the stepping stone for young fillies with an eye toward the track's premier race for juvenile misses – the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante, run at seven furlongs on Sunday, Sept. 5.
Trainer Baffert holds the record for most Sorrento winners with seven. He has also won nine Debutantes.
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