Tag: Del Mar

Hernandez, D’Amato Repeat As Del Mar Leaders

With 39 wins and over $3 million in earnings, jockey Juan Hernandez won his second straight summer meet title at Del Mar while trainer Phil D'Amato picked up his fourth trainer's title out of the last five years.

Similar to 2022, the trainer's title came down to the final day. D'Amato went into the final day with a one-win lead over Baffert and two over Doug O'Neill. All three posted one winner on the day. D'Amato won the summer meet title for the second straight year with 21 victories.

Last year, Bob Baffert won the GI Del Mar Futurity with Cave Rock (Arrogate) to tie Philip D'Amato for a share the trainer's title while this year, Baffert won the Futurity with 'TDN Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) but came up one win short.

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‘Rising Star’ Prince Of Monaco Game In Futurity Victory

If the last 24 hours have given us anything to judge by, the future of racing on the West Coast seems to be in safe hands.

Just one day after 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) asserted herself atop her division in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S., fellow 'Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) followed suit with a game performance to give trainer Bob Baffert his 17th win in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity.

The colt's victory Sunday came as absolutely no surprise. An eight-length debut winner at Los Alamitos, the $950,000 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select grad parlayed that right into an equally impressive route when defeating another 'Rising Star' in Muth (Good Magic) to take the GIII Best Pal S. Aug. 13.

“He broke well and I thought I was going to go to the lead,” said winning jockey Flavien Prat. “But other horses went for it, so we waited. On the turn, he made his move and we made the lead. His teammate (Mirahmadi) was trying hard. But I think my horse was just waiting for something to come up to him. That didn't happen. Can he run on? We won't know until it happens, but he's done everything right so far.”

“It was the right kind of trip we were looking for,” added Jimmy Barnes, assistant to Bob Baffert. “We weren't sure about Mirahmadi, where he was going to be placed in the race, but he left there running. (Flavien) Prat just got comfortable on the inside and when he needed to get to the outside he did and he accelerated. He's pretty push button, pretty straight forward. I'm very proud of both of them.”

Pedigree Note:

Picked up out of the aforementioned Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, Prince of Monaco is the first winner out of two to race from the dam. Out of unraced Rainier, the Mar. 26 foal is a grandson of MSW Clay's Rocket (American Chance), a half-sister to GI Frizette winner Adieu (El Corredor). His 7-year-old dam is also responsible for a Munnings filly from last year who sells at Keeneland September next week (hip 1026), followed by a Constitution filly this term. She was bred back to Speightstown for a full-sibling next year.

Sunday, Del Mar
RUNHAPPY DEL MAR FUTURITY-GI, $300,500, Del Mar, 9-10, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.65, ft.
1–PRINCE OF MONACO, 123, c, 2, by Speightstown
                1st Dam: Rainier, by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Clay's Rocket, by American Chance
                3rd Dam: Irene's Talkin, by At the Threshold
1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($950,000 Ylg '22
FTSAUG). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables
LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E.
Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and
Tom Ryan; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $327,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mirahmadi, 118, c, 2, Into Mischief–More Chocolate, by
Malibu Moon. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($1,050,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing,
Madaket Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson,
Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and Tom Ryan;
B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Next Level, 118, c, 2, Vino Rosso–Devious d'Oro, by Medaglia
d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1
BLACK TYPE. ($20,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Don't Tell My Wife
Stables; B-White Fox Farm (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux.
$36,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.05, 15.60, 28.50.
Also Ran: Raging Torrent, Mary's Boy Bolt, Rothschild. Scratched: Valiant Knight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Endlessly Stays Perfect In Juvenile Turf Romp

In a battle of two touted maiden winners, it was ENDLESSLY (Oscar Performance) who got the final say in Sunday's GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf S.

Lined up opposite 'TDN Rising Star' Boltage (Bolt d'Oro), the 5-2 second choice kept to what he knew after a winning debut over this same distance earlier in the meet July 30. Also facing two of his stablemates in this spot, Endlessly broke with the pack but was quickly outrun passing the wire the first time by. A keen Des Doigts (Hootenanny), chased intently by both Bear River (Flameaway) and Boltage, blitzed into the first turn through an opening quarter in :22.71. Bear River went on with it to take command up the backstretch as Endlessly checked in near the rear of the field. The top three began to come back to them as Boltage made an early move past a :46.61 half mile and Endlessly followed suit to pick up positions outside of horses. Three across the track at the quarter pole, Boltage tried to make a race of it but the Mike McCarthy trainee went right on by, opening up inside the final sixteenth to win going away.

“I had a good trip,” said winning jockey Juan Hernandez, also aboard for the maiden win. “Mike (trainer Mike McCarthy) told me the horse had really been training well. When you hear that, you don't get nervous out there if you get in a little trouble. You know the horse is going to run strong. My horse did that today. I was tracking the favorite (Boltage) and when I got by him I knew I was in good shape.”

“The horse had drawn a little bit outside today and I told Juan (Hernandez) just go ahead and bounce out of there and hopefully not get yourself stuck too far out in the middle of the racetrack around the first turn,” added McCarthy. “The horse was attentive to him and he put himself in a great spot. He looked like he was always traveling comfortably. It did look like Juan took it to him a little early. It just seemed like he couldn't wait any longer and he was able to finish off nicely.”

Pedigree Note:

The third graded-stakes winner for sophomore sire Oscar Performance, Endlessly is out of an unraced Langfuhr mare who is a half-sister to the dam of both GISW Coffee Clique (Medaglia d'Oro), MGSW Admission Office (Point of Entry) and MGSP Royal Fury (Langfuhr). Dream Fuhrever has been a frequent visitor of Oscar Performance as Endlessly has a 3-year-old full-sister and a weanling full-brother with another full-sibling expected in 2024.

Sunday, Del Mar
DEL MAR JUVENILE TURF S.-GIII, $101,500, Del Mar, 9-10, 2yo, 1mT, 1:35.28, fm.
1–ENDLESSLY, 120, c, 2, by Oscar Performance
                1st Dam: Dream Fuhrever, by Langfuhr
                2nd Dam: Society Dream (Fr), by Akarad (Fr)
                3rd Dam: Society Bride, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Amerman
Racing LLC; B-Jerry Amerman (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy;
J-Juan J. Hernandez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$109,200. Werk Nick Rating: D+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Lord Bullingdon, 118, c, 2, Lord Nelson–Ms Silver Oak, by
Leroidesanimaux (Brz). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK
TYPE. ($22,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $55,000 2yo '23 EASMAY).
O-Colbart Stables and Michael McCarthy Racing Stable, Inc.;
B-Veloce LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $20,000.
3–Boltage, 120, c, 2, Bolt d'Oro–Ultimate Prize, by Smart Strike.
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($20,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN; $240,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Pin Oak
Stud LLC; B-Virginia Moore & Malia Hopkins (KY); T-Richard E.
Mandella. $12,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.80, 9.00, 1.10.
Also Ran: Andreadytorumble, Bear River, Glandford (GB), Sea Singer (Ire), Des Doigts. Scratched: Osage Creek.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Large Fields, Quality Racing Mark Successful Del Mar Meet

Del Mar marked eight weeks of increased field sizes and high-quality racing that ended Sunday.

“Overall, just a tremendous summer of quality racing,” Racing Secretary David Jerkens says. “Especially Pacific Classic Day. You look back and see how strong of a card that was. I think some of the winners and horses that ran well on that card have bright futures for the Breeders' Cup.”

The talk around the racing industry is the field sizes again this year at Del Mar.

“It was a robust number that I think any track in the country would kill for,” Jerkens says. “We knew last year would be difficult to match but we are very close to what we had last year. I think two years in a row, when you're over or hovering around nine runners a race, that's a pretty strong accomplishment.”

The average field size for the dirt races at Del Mar this summer was 8.47 and for the turf races it was 9.50. Stake races had an AFS of 8.56.

“We had a strong product throughout,” Jerkens notes. “We did have the (one day) weather cancellation but we made up all those races that were canceled.”

Tropical Storm Hilary was the only hiccup all summer. The storm prompted horse evacuations, canceled racing Aug. 20 and eventually dumped two inches of rain on the backside. But from all reports afterward, what little flooding there was in the stable area had no impact on the horses and things were back to normal in just a couple of days.

The “Ship & Win” program was a success once again this summer, contributing to the large field sizes.

“The results were pretty much what we expected,” Jerkens says. “I think we were 14% off the number of starters from last year but that was another expectation we had to curtail a bit because we knew, in reality, it would be hard to match. We may still end up with our second most  Ship & Win' runners.”

Heading into the final weekend, 171 “Ship & Win” starters debuted at Del Mar this summer. Twenty three made it to the winner's circle, six last week.

“You can do all these different programs,” Jerkens concedes, “but all that means nothing unless you get the support in the entry box. That's what we had from our horsemen once again.”

So, now we look ahead to the fall meet, something Jerkens has already started planning.

“Hopefully we'll have our stakes schedule released in the upcoming weeks,” Jerkens says. “We're starting to plant seeds for the fall. Generally, if the weather cooperates and we're able to run on the grass we'll have a successful meet. Last year everything went well, knock on wood. We were fortunate in terms of the weather. We had really strong fields our last two weekends and expectations are for more of the same, but a lot is dependent on the rain.”

The four-week Bing Crosby meet kicks off the week after the Breeders' Cup, November 10.

For Jerkens, the end of the summer meet is the end of a very long process that actually goes year round.

“Absolutely,” Jerkens says. “You hear from more people across the country than normal about them taking notice of what Del Mar had to offer this summer. I think we had the strongest day-to-day race product around this summer.”

“My staff worked really hard,” Jerkens continues. “There's a lot of planning that goes into it. You don't just show up Opening Day and here it is. But again, so many owners and trainers really want to be part of Del Mar and they provided tremendous support this summer.”

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