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Claims Not Slowing Down As Del Mar Approaches Closing Day

Through Saturday's Day 25 card of Del Mar's 31-day season, horse claims have not slowed down, notes the lady who takes care of these things, stewards' aide Lucy Vaillancourt.

She reports that there have been 193 total claims realized so far at the session and that's not counting the 31 voided claims that were turned back. All told, those actual claims cost $5,524,000, which means that “the Governor” (aka, the state of California) has realized $483,349 from its 8.75% sales tax.

“And what you've got to realize,” Vaillancourt said, “is that we've had 888 cards 'dropped' (a claim request) so far. There are a lot of folks looking to buy horses this way.”

One of the yardsticks for measuring the claiming activity is the number of “shakes” that are held post-race. That's a situation where more than one horseperson has dropped a request to claim a particular horse, forcing there to be a “shake” (or blind pill pull) to determine the one who becomes the new owner of the horse.

Yesterday, Vaillancourt conducted a 17-way “shake” for the 3-year-old gelding Magic Tiger, who trainer Mike Maker had put in for a $16,000 tag in Race 2. The winner of that pill pull was trainer Jamey Thomas, which is an interesting story all in itself.

Thomas had run Magic Tiger for the same $16,000 tag at Del Mar three weeks earlier on August 7, watched him run third and then go to Maker's barn. Yesterday Thomas took Magic Tiger – who again ran third – back for the same price, after, of course, he had come out on top in that 17-way “shake.”

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Dead Heat Propels Sadler To Second In Del Mar Trainer Standings

When Little Liliana and Kalon finished in a dead-heat for win in Saturday's fifth race at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., it was a double-dip victory for John Sadler, who trains them both.

Not even the camera could separate Little Liliana, a Joe Turner homebred 3-year-old daughter of Square Eddie ridden by Umberto Rispoli, and Kalon, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernardini ridden by Florent Geroux, when they hit the wire in the five-furlong turf sprint for maiden fillies and mares.

It was the second career start for Little Liliana and the seventh for Kalon.

“I've been involved in lots of dead heats, but none with both of them my horses for the win,” Sadler said this morning. “That's really rare. That's like a lunar eclipse or something. I've never seen that.”

The double victory, and another in the opening race on the card from Electric Ride with Joe Bravo aboard, enabled Sadler to leapfrog Phil D'Amato, Bob Baffert, and Mark Glatt from fifth to second in the trainer standings. Peter Miller leads with 20 wins from 113 starters, Sadler has 11 from 68, while D'Amato (13/84), Baffert (13/53), and Glass (13/66) are next.

Sadler, who has three Del Mar training titles on his record, gets credit for four wins in three races from the finale on the Friday program to the fifth-race double.

Bravo notched his second consecutive victory when he guided Doncic home for Sadler in Friday's nightcap and made it three in a row, and back-to-backs for Sadler, in Saturday's opener.

Sadler had no representatives in the second, third or fourth races before doubling up in the fifth. The streak ended when Luvluv finished second in the ninth race, then Flagstaff finished third in the Pat O'Brien Stakes.

“We'll take it,” Sadler said.

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Ginobli Win In Pat O’Brien A Slam Dank For Ownership Group

The colt by Munnings was a $35,000 purchase at the Keeneland September sale in 2018, a find that Richard Baltas first offered for purchase to the Slam Dunk Racing partnership headed by former jockey agent and basketball aficionado Nick Cosato.

“I loved him because even as an early 2-year-old he looked like a 3-year-old,” Cosato said this morning of the horse that produced a 1 ¾-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif. “So we were in right away, and some other partners eventually came in as well.”

Cosato did the naming honors, coming up with the surname of Manu Ginobili, the native of Argentina who was a four-time NBA champion while starring with the San Antonio Spurs.

Unlike his namesake, Ginobili the horse wasn't a consistent winner. He came into the Pat O'Brien with two wins from 12 lifetime starts, a maiden score here in August of 2019 and a mile allowance tally on July 17, the second day of the current meeting, by an impressive 9 ¾ lengths.

“The Munnings line is kind of curious,” Cosato said. “He throws a variety (of runners); they tend to be good on the turf but that's not true for all of them.”

So finding the right surface and distance took some doing. But input from jockey Joe Bravo following a fourth-place finish in a 6 ½-furlong race at Santa Anita on June 19 led to a 9¾-length victory in a mile event here on July 17 that generated thoughts of bigger things.

“Did the mile wake him up? Possibly, but I think adding blinkers and a couple other things contributed too,” Cosato said.

Following the July 17 race, the partnership was ready for a step up to stakes, but not unified on just which one and where. The TVG Pacific Classic, the Charles Town Classic, and the Pat O'Brien were discussed before settling on the latter, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 6.

With Bravo committed to riding Flagstaff for trainer John Sadler, jockey Drayden Van Dyke got the call on Ginobili and executed a best-case scenario, positioning outside front-runner Brickyard Ride for the first half-mile, opening up 3 ½-lengths at the top of the stretch and holding on nicely from there.

Craig Lewis, trainer of Brickyard Ride, was disappointed that the stall gate, which should have been shut, was left open and his horse bolted through before the start. Brickyard Ride was reined in and deemed still worthy to race, but the premature exertion probably contributed to his tiring after a half-mile and finishing last.

“These are things we don't have any control over and you wish wouldn't happen,” Lewis said.

Ginobili reportedly came out of the race in fine fettle as did runner-up and 2-1 favorite C Z Rocket and third-place Flagstaff.

“The horse ran great, I have no fault with the horse or the rider,” said Peter Miller, trainer of C Z Rocket. “Hats off to the winner.

“But I'd like to have seen what they could have done on a (different) racetrack. Hopefully, we get that for the Sprint Championship (Stakes) at Santa Anita and for the Breeders' Cup. More importantly for the Breeders' Cup.”

Sadler on Flagstaff: “We thought he ran a good race. He didn't win but he ran a good race. Props to the winner, who ran a great race. (Flagstaff) might run again at Santa Anita and then come back for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.”

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Del Mar Announces Stakes Calendar For November Bing Crosby Meeting

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will present its eighth fall race meeting – officially titled the Bing Crosby Season in a salute to the seaside track's founder – with 18 major stakes and a pair of overnights worth a record $3,550,000 planned during a 15-day session starting on Wednesday, November 3.

Del Mar will be hosting the 38th edition of the Breeders' Cup Championships during its fall stand with 14 major races worth more than $31 million slated on Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6. The track had previously been home to the Breeders' Cup in 2017.

A highlight of the session will be its two Grade 1 offerings on closing weekend, the Hollywood Derby and the Matriarch Stakes. Each will carry a value of $400,000, the highest sum ever for a stakes race at the shore oval outside of the $1-million TVG Pacific Classic.

Twelve of the major stakes are Graded – two Grade 1s, four Grade 2s and six Grade 3s. The track has put an emphasis on grass racing during its previous fall stands and that holds true once more with 11 of the stakes, including the last seven, all contested on the deep Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Those seven turf tests will be conducted during Del Mar's final weekend, starting on Thanksgiving Thursday, November 25 and continuing through closing day on Sunday, November 28.

“This is the best fall stakes schedule we've ever presented,” said DMTC vice president and racing secretary David Jerkens. “The success of Del Mar racing over the past two years has allowed us to partner with our horsemen and horsewomen in this robust schedule. We think it will be an attraction to good horses from across the country.”

The track's two premier stakes will be presented on its closing weekend – the $400,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at nine furlongs on grass Saturday, November 27 and the $400,000 Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on the green on Sunday, November 28.

Additionally, closing weekend also will offer the $250,000 Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one-sixteenth on turf Saturday, November 27 and the $250,000 Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one-half on the lawn on Friday, November 26. Both of those races have had their values increased by $50,000 from previous runnings.

Racing will be conducted Wednesday through Sunday in Week 1, then Friday through Sunday in Weeks 2 and 3 before finishing with a Thursday through Sunday session in the final Week 4.

First post daily will be 12:30 on all racing days with the exceptions of the Breeders' Cup Days and Thanksgiving. The first race on Breeders' Cup Friday goes off at 11:55 a.m., while the first on Breeders' Cup Saturday begins at 10:15 a.m. The Thanksgiving Day card will have a first post of 11 a.m.

As in past years, Del Mar's racing office plans to card eight races during its weekday cards and nine for the weekend programs.

The complete list of stakes follows:

DATE RACE / CONDITIONS PURSE / DISTANCE

Wed. Nov 03 Seashell Stakes* Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, N/W S/S of $60,000 at 1 M o/o since April 1 $100,000 Added 1 Mile

Thu. Nov 04 Let It Ride Stakes* Three-year-olds, N/W S/S of $60,000 at 1 M o/o since April 1 $100,000 Added 1 Mile (Turf)

Fri. Nov 05 QATAR GOLDEN MILE STAKES Two-year-olds $150,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

Fri. Nov 05 GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE FILLIES STAKES Fillies, Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred $175,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Fri. Nov 05 GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE STAKES Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred $175,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Fri. Nov 05 SENATOR KEN MADDY STAKES (Grade 3) Fillies & Mares, Two-year-olds & up $200,000 Guaranteed 5 Furlongs (Turf)

Sat. Nov 06 TAA STAKES (Grade 2) Three-year-olds & up $250,000 Guaranteed 1 5/8 Miles

Sat. Nov 06 GOLDIKOVA STAKES (Grade 2) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up $300,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

Sun. Nov 07 BETTY GRABLE STAKES Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred $100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Sat. Nov 13 DESI ARNAZ STAKES Fillies, Two-year-olds $100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Sun. Nov 14 BOB HOPE STAKES (Grade 3) Two-year-olds $100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Sat. Nov 20 NATIVE DIVER STAKES (Grade 3) Three-year-olds & up $100,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles

Sun. Nov 21 CARY GRANT STAKES Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred $100,000 Guaranteed 7 Furlongs

Thu. Nov 25 RED CARPET STAKES (Grade 3) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up $100,000 Guaranteed 1 3/8 Miles (Turf)

Fri. Nov 26 HOLLYWOOD TURF CUP (Grade 2) Three-year-olds & up $250,000 Guaranteed 1 1/2 Miles (Turf)

Sat. Nov 27 JIMMY DURANTE STAKES (Grade 3) Fillies, Two-year-olds $100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

Sat. Nov 27 SEABISCUIT HANDICAP (Grade 2) Three-year-olds & up $250,000 Guaranteed 1 1/16 Miles (Turf)

Sat. Nov 27 HOLLYWOOD DERBY (Grade 1) Three-year-olds $400,000 Guaranteed 1 1/8 Miles (Turf)

Sun. Nov 28 CECIL B. DEMILLE STAKES (Grade 3) Two-year-olds $100,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

Sun. Nov 28 MATRIARCH STAKES (Grade 1) Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up $400,000 Guaranteed 1 Mile (Turf)

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