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Red King Holds Off United With Rispoli’s Perfectly Timed Ride In Del Mar Handicap

Jockey Umberto Rispoli rolled the dice, making a six-wide move toward the lead aboard Red King with a half-mile to go in Saturday's Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, then had just enough left to hold off the late charge of odds-on favorite United and Flavien Prat in the 1 3/8-mile turf fixture at the seaside track north of San Diego.

The victory in the $200,000 race gave Red King – owned by Little Red Feather, Gordon Jacobsen and Philip Belmonte – an automatic, fees-paid berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7 as part of the “Win and You're In” Challenge Race Series that also provides a travel allowance to winning horses traveling to Kentucky.

Trained by Phil D'Amato, Red King covered 1 3/8 miles on firm turf in 2:15.75, winning for the seventh time in 28 lifetime starts. This was his second stakes win since D'Amato claimed him for $25,000 in February 2019. Earlier this year the English Channel 6-year-old horse won the 1 3/4-mile, G3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita.

United finished second, with Originaire closing for third and Proud Pedro fourth in the field of 11 older runners.

Red King paid $10.60.

Longshots Big Buzz and Ward 'n Jerry carved out the slow early fractions, going :25.07, :49.94 and 1:15.09 for the first six furlongs. Rispoli swung Red King to the outside in the run down the backstretch, moving toward the leaders after a mile in 1:40.07. He took command from North County Guy at the top of the stretch, opened up a lead and just lasted over United for the win.

“I didn't like how slow they were going, so I decided to move earlier today,” said Rispoli. “It takes a really good horse to do that, but I knew he had the stamina. I did this when I was riding in Europe. It was close at the finish because he was trying to pull h imself up. I am very happy. This horse gave me a Grade 3 win in his last start, and today he gave me a Grade 2. I want to keep it going with him.”

The stakes win was the seventh of the meet for Rispoli, riding his first seaon at Del Mar. It was the first of the meet for D'Amato but his fourth straight (and sixth of the last seven) in the Del Mar Handicap. He now has 27 stakes wins at Del Mar.

“I could see going along the backstretch Flavien (on United) was on the inside and Umberto was about to make that move on the outside. (Rispoli) timed in perfectly. I give all the credit to him. After the last race he was so high on this horse. He chose Red King over Originaire and that gave me a lot of confidence that he felt the horse was climbing up the ladder and to win this race is really special.”

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Favored Harvest Moon Captures Torrey Pines In Stakes Debut

Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor's Harvest Moon ran a perfect stalking race, then proved strongest late in capturing the $100,500 Torrey Pines Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths Saturday at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

The 3-year-old filly test, run at a mile with six in the field, was Harvest Moon's third victory in four starts and her first score in a stakes race. She was handled by Flavien Prat, who was winning his meet-leading ninth stakes.

Harvest Moon, a daughter of Uncle Mo bred by Alice Bamford, took home $60,000 for the win pushing her earnings to $120,720. She paid $5 to win as the 3-2 favorite.

Finishing second was Pam and Martin Wygod's Secret Keeper and third was Feghali, Feghali or Mathiesen, et al's Paige Anne.

Harvest Moon covered the distance in 1:36.87 after fractions of :22.13, :45.93, 1:11.16 and 1:23.76.

“It was perfect,” said Prat. “She was nice and relaxed and I knew they were running very fast up front. She's got speed if you want it, though. Last time I hardly asked her to run. Today, she was just waiting on me. She won it very nicely.”

The stakes win was the ninth of the meet for rider Prat, but his first in the Torrey Pines. He now has 53 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the second of the meet for trainer Callaghan and his first in the Torrey Pines. He now has 13 stakes wins at Del Mar.

“We were delighted,” said Callaghan. “This filly means a lot because I trained the mother (Qaraaba), which gives it a little extra sentiment. She's an exciting, big filly that we've been super patient with and it's great that she's coming in to doing what she's doing.”

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Chaos Theory Proves Sharp Claim For Sadler, Winning Green Flash Handicap

Hronis Racing's Chaos Theory, claimed for $62,500 last out by trainer John Sadler for his main owners – Pete and Kosta Hronis — made good on his first trip over the grass in California with a come-from-behind, one-length tally in Saturday's $101,000 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

The 5-year-old gelding, who was last seen in action at Churchill Downs in Kentucky on June 14, was handled by Umberto Rispoli, the newcomer to Del Mar this season who has shown a special affinity for its grass course. The Green Flash score was his sixth stakes victory of the meet with five of them coming on the turf. He's now won 23 turf races in 69 tries, a remarkable 33% clip on the green.

“It was beautiful.,” said Rispoli. “He surprised me because he broke so sharply. I figured we'd be a little farther back, but it put us in a great spot just behind the speed. At this distance you can't get too far back. I had a lot of horse turning for home. I thought we'd get there.”

Chaos Theory, by Curlin, paid $5.60, $3.40 and $2.80 across the board as the race favorite. He picked up $60,000 for the score bringing his bankroll to $260,554.

Finishing second was Maryanski and Schneider's Baja Sur and running third was W. C. Racing's Torosay.

Chaos Theory covered the five furlong distance in :56.22.

“We've got a great grass sprint program in California and Santa Anita is actually adding a turf chute,” said Sadler. “So we have a variety of distances on the grass and this horse is kind of a specialist — 5, 5 ½ furlongs so I thought he would be a great fit in California, that's why we brought him out. He's a good horse. We were pleased with his race today.”

The stakes win was the second of the meet and second in the Green Flash (2008, Get Funky) for trainer Sadler. He now has 78 stakes wins at Del Mar, moving him ahead of Ron McAnally and into second place on Del Mar's all-time trainers' list.

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Halladay Scores Frontrunning Victory In ‘Win And You’re In’ Fourstardave

Harrell Ventures' Halladay went back to his usual frontrunning style and maintained his advantage throughout every point of call, scoring his first graded stakes triumph in the 36th running of Saturday's Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave for older horses going one mile over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Fourstardave, named in honor of “the Sultan of Saratoga” who won a race at the Spa for eight straight years, is a Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” event, which offers an automatic entry towards the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile on November 7 at Keeneland.

Last out, the gray or roan 4-year-old son of War Front displayed different tactics and sat just off the pace in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at the Spa, which was won by pacesetter Somelikeithotbrown.

On Saturday, jockey Luis Saez hustled Halladay through the first few strides out of the gate, and the six-time winning colt responded, taking command heading into the first turn and led by 1 1/2 lengths through an opening quarter-mile in 23.85 seconds over a turf course rated “good”. Emmaus, a 20-1 longshot, stalked in second with defending Fourstardave winner and course record holder Got Stormy along the hedge in third.

“When I ride him, I always feel like he's better on the lead,” Saez said. “He likes to fight. He's a game horse. Today, the track is a little bit softer and he couldn't break that fast from there but at the second jump he was right there.”

Through a half-mile in 47.19 seconds, Halladay maintained his advantage and received his cue from Saez as jockey Tyler Gaffalione, aboard Got Stormy, tipped the two-time Grade 1 winning mare to the outside and confronted the pacesetter down the stretch. Despite the late challenge from Got Stormy, Halladay would not be denied and hit the wire a 1 1/4-length winner in a final time of 1:33.32. Got Stormy was another 1 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place finisher Casa Creed.

Returning $12.60 for a $2 win bet, Halladay moved his lifetime earnings past the half-million dollar mark to $517,485 while cashing $220,000 in victory and keeping his consistent record intact at 14-6-2-4.

Never worse than fourth lifetime, Halladay added a third stakes win to his resume having won the Tropical Park Derby on December 28 and the Sunshine Forever on May 9, both of which were over the turf at Gulfstream Park.

Saez said that the most important thing was getting his horse to the front.

“That was the plan, I was trying to get on the lead. He likes to be on the lead and likes to run free and that was the key,” Saez said. “He handled it beautifully. I think the turf was a little soft; when we got to the stretch, it took a couple of steps to get going. But when he felt the other horse, he gave it everything and took off and won the race.”

The victory was a fourth stakes win of the meet for trainer Todd Pletcher, who trained previous Fourstardave victors Red Giant (2008) and Sidney's Candy (2011).

“He's gotten really good and we've seen it in the mornings in his training,” Pletcher said. “He's been going great and we were confident going in that he was at his very best and we thought we had a bit of a pace advantage, so we wanted to take the race to them. He didn't break great but once he got his legs underneath him, he settled really well and kicked really strong.”

Pletcher said that his last out fourth-place finish moved him forward into the Fourstardave.

“We felt like we learned a little something in there and applied different tactics today,” Pletcher said. “I think the real key is we've been able to get him to settle. We wanted to go to the lead today but when he got to the lead, he relaxed and pricked his ears and turned off the bridle. Before he would go to the front and continue to engage and never really settle. So, we've been working on that and that's why in the last race when we were laying second, we were okay with it, because the plan was to get him to settle.”

Gaffalione said he was proud of the performance from Got Stormy.

“That was a big effort today,” Gaffalione said. “She settled nicely right behind the leaders. When we got into the stretch, I found some room and she finished up nicely. It was just tough to get by the winner since he put in a big effort today.

“It's great to see her get back into form,” he continued. “It's a step in the right direction and hopefully we can finish the year strong with her.”

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and Winchell Thoroughbreds, Halladay is out of the graded stakes-winning Tapit broodmare Hightap.

Completing the order of finish were Emmaus, Raging Bull, Without Parole, Uni, Valid Point and Chewing Gum.

Live racing returns on Sunday with the featured Grade 1, $500,000 Diana for older fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles over the Mellon turf. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday also will feature a mandatory payout in the Empire 6, which boasts a jackpot of $600,930 heading into the nine-race card at the Spa. The Empire 6 sequence kicks off in Race 4 at 2:54 p.m. ET.

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