Del Mar | Horse Racing Free Tips

Two Jockeys Suspended For Roles In Accident Causing Seven-Horse Spill At Del Mar

Jockeys Jose Valdivia, Jr. and Diego Herrera (apprentice) have each been issued suspensions by the Del Mar stewards, reports the Daily Racing Form, for their roles in an incident that caused a seven-horse spill and resulting “no contest” in last Sunday's seventh race.

Sassy Chasey (Herrera) was racing in third, in between frontrunners Katie's Paradise (Valdivia) to the outside and Scream and Shout along the rail when she appeared to clip the heels of Katie's Paradise and went down, setting off the chain reaction that involved Backtoflash and Cesar Ortega; Whiskey Blue and Kyle Frey; Siena Silk and Emily Ellingwood; Renegade Princess and Tyler Baze; Phoenix Tears and Tiago Pereira; and Corners Up and Juan Espinoza.

Miraculously, there were no serious injuries among jockeys or horses, with four riders going to a local hospital for evaluation before being discharged. Among the seven horses, there were only a few lacerations that required stitches. All were back in their stalls Sunday night.

Valdivia received a 10-day suspension, and Herrera received five days. Herrera's agent, Vince DeGregory, said the apprentice jockey does not plan to appeal. However, Valdivia's agent, Nick Hines, is planning an appeal.

“What can you say?” Hines told DRF. “Ultra-surprised and flabbergasted, to single Jose out when the rider who clipped heels admitted fault. They've made Jose out to be doubly responsible.”

Saturday Insights: Turf Maiden Kicks Off Travers Day Program

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, post time: 11:35 a.m. ET
Though there are more fashionable pedigrees on display for the Saturday opener at the Spa, DAUNT (Nyquist) may present longshot players something to grab on to. Owned and bred by Marc Keller and trained by Bobby Ribaudo–who teamed to win back-to-back renewals of the GI Sword Dancer Invitational in 2007 and 2008 with Grand Couturier (GB)–the February-foaled dark bay is the first produce for his dam Promotional (Artie Schiller), third in the GIII Rood & Riddle Dowager S. and sold with this colt in utero for $275,000 at Keeneland January in 2019. Promotional is a half-sister to the Glen Hill Farm's outstanding MGISW and GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf runner-up Marketing Mix (Medaglia d'Oro), while the deeper female family includes two-time GI Pacific Classic winner Skimming (Nureyev), G1 English 1000 Guineas heroine Wince (GB) (Selkirk) and MGSW Eltish (Cox's Ridge). Electability (Quality Road), a $600K in-utero purchase at KEENOV in 2018, is out of a daughter of GIII Florida Oaks winner French Satin (French Deputy), dam of GSW Long Haul Bay (Quality Road), SW & GSP Midnight Transfer (Hard Spun) and SP Salt Plage (Quality Road). Electability cost $300,000 at KEENOV in 2019 and third dam produced MGISW Lion Heart (Tale of the Cat). Royal Spirit (Into Mischief), a $450,000 KEESEP buy, is out of a winning half-sister to GSW Mo Tom (Uncle Mo), SW & MGISP Beautician (Dehere), MGSW Red Ruby (Tiznow) and SW Bella Castani (Big Brown), the dam of MSP Be Sneaky (Into Mischief). TJCIS PPs

Frosted Colt Looks to Unleash His 'Wrath'…

2nd-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, post time: 12:08 p.m. ET
Produced by a half-sister to GSW Doremifasollatido (Bernstein) and GSW Fortunate Damsel (Runaway Groom), STEINBECK (Frosted) fetched $125,000 at KEESEP last year, then was hammered down for $650,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale earlier this winter after breezing a quarter-mile in :21 2/5 (see below). The price ranks as easily the most expensive of 34 second-crop juveniles for his sire in 2021. Don Adam's Courtlandt Farm was extended to $690,000 to acquire Dr. Perry (Into Mischief) at Keeneland last fall. The Mar. 5 foal is out of Not In Jest (Unbridled's Song), a daughter of GI Ballerina H. winner Stop Traffic (Cure the Blues), making her a full-sister to GISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Cross Traffic and a half to MSW Thirteen Arrows (Indian Charlie). Be Better is a homebred son of Uncle Mo, who defeated Admiral Perry by 14 1/4 lengths at first asking 11 years ago to this day before going on to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Eclipse Award honors. The dark bay is out of a daughter of the late SW Grat (A.P. Indy), dam of GSW turfer Old Time Hockey (Smarty Jones). TJCIS PPs

Fipke Homebred Looks 'Ready' For Debut…

5th-WO, C$126K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7fT, post time: 3:23 p.m. ET
Charles Fipke homebred READY LADY (More Than Ready) looks set to roll at first asking and has the family behind her to do it. The late Jack Werk acquired the filly's second dam, Grade I-winning Illinois-bred Lady Shirl (That's a Nice), for $485,000 in foal to Theatrical (Ire) at Keeneland November in 2005 and the result was Lady Shakespeare, who went on to become a graded winner on turf at 10 and 12 furlongs for Fipke. Lady Shakespeare has gone on to produce GISW, Sovereign Award winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) while her half-sister, GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf upsetter Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}), has accounted for GSW 'Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown). Lady Shirl also produced SW & MGSP Fantastic Shirl (Fantastic Light). TJCIS PPs

'Chrome' Sibling Gets Underway…

1st-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, post time: 5:00 p.m. ET
CAPTAIRE (Uncle Mo) draws outside in a field of six for a much-anticipated career debut Saturday 'where the surf meets the turf.' On behalf of SF Bloodstock, John McCormack went to $1.9 million to purchase Love That Chase (Not For Love) in foal to Tapit at Fasig-Tipton November in 2016, a few months before her son California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) would add a Horse of the Year and champion older horse statuette to his champion 3-year-old Eclipse from two years prior. Love That Chase was RNAd for $1.3 million with this filly in utero at FTKNOV in 2018. Electric Ride (Daredevil) was the joint-third priciest of her sire's 28 yearlings reported as sold last season when fetching $130,000 at FTKOCT and was the dearest of 19 of the stallion's current juveniles when hammering for $250,000 at OBSAPR this spring (under-tack video). TJCIS PPs

Ballerina Winner Represented By Second Starter…

8th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, post time: 8:35 p.m. ET
ROCKEFELLER (Medaglia d'Oro) is the second foal to make the races out of the classy Dance to Bristol (Speightstown), who posted the most important of her 10 career wins in the 2013 GI Ballerina S., besting favored Book Review (Giant's Causeway) by a head. The $750,000 KEESEP purchase squares off against Union Train (Union Rags), whose talented half-sister White Frost (Candy Ride {Arg}) was ultra-impressive in taking out the GIII Sweetest Chant S. on the turf at Gulfstream last January. Also a half-brother to MSP Torres Del Paine (Karakontie {Jpn}), Union Train realized a final bid of $325,000 at OBSMAR after breezing in :10 1/5. South Street (Quality Road) is a son of Miss Catomine (Bernardini), whose dam Sweet Catomine (Storm Cat) won the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Del Mar Debutante en route to an Eclipse Award that season. The latter's full-sister Life Is Sweet was a winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. TJCIS PPs

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Trainers’ Concerns ‘Surface’ On Eve Of ‘Win And You’re In’ Pat O’Brien

It's a common, everyday factor in Thoroughbred racing magnified by the size of the purse and the importance of the event.

How will the track be playing? Will it favor speed horses or come-from-behind types? Because one trainer's “too fast” is another's “not fast enough.”

Case in point, Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes, the seven-furlong follow-up to the Grade 1, $300,000 six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes four weeks ago in Del Mar's handicap division sprint graded event series.

The Crosby victory having assured a spot in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint here on Nov. 6, winner Dr. Schivel is not entered in the O'Brien. But three of the next four Crosby finishers are set to run, fully aware that the O'Brien is a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fan Dirt Mile on the same day.

And for two of them – defending race champion C Z Rocket trained by Peter Miller and California-bred speedster Brickyard Ride trained by Craig Lewis – how the track plays on Saturday is of foremost concern.

In the immediate aftermath of the Crosby, in which C Z Rocket closed from fifth to third in the stretch, nearly making up a four-length deficit to lose only by a neck, Miller said he'd pass on the O'Brien. Which, the trainer said this morning, could still happen.

“We're still not 100 percent sure,” said Miller, who has consistently expressed concerns over what he considers a speed-favoring track throughout the meeting. “We're going to keep an eye on the track and see how it's playing. The post (No. 9) is good. I just don't want to run him if it's not a fair track. I'm just trying to be fair to the horse, and the public, that's all.”

Claimed for $40,000 in April of 2020, the O'Brien win, followed by a victory in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint were keys to a nine-race campaign in 2020 that produced $651,901 in earnings. The seven-year-old gelded son of City Zip has added $536,000 from four 2021 starts for career earnings of more than $1.4 million.

Brickyard Ride overcame a bobble at the break to go straight to the lead in the Bing Crosby through early fractions of :21.80 and :44.60 on a track that the Daily Racing Form analysts rated as favoring closers, before being passed by four horses in the stretch.

The 4-year-old son of Clubhouse Ride, an Alfred Pais homebred, has career earnings of $470,477. Of that, $300,200 has been accumulated via three wins in six starts this year, highlighted by a victory in the Grade II San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in March.

“I'd like to see a little better start and a little more glib track (than the Crosby), but you can't control that,” Lewis said of his O'Brien hopes. “Certain horses like it certain ways and he (Brickyard Ride) wants to go the speed route. We'd like a quick track, that's the bottom line.

“Other than that, he's good to go. We just need things to go our way, which is asking for a lot. There's a lot of nice horses in a very competitive race.”

The field for the Pat O'Brien from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Ginobili (Drayden Van Dyke, 6-1); Howbeit (Kyle Frey, 6-1); Surfing Star (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 30-1); Mo Mosa (Ramon Vasquez, 10-1); Eight Rings (Abel Cedillo, 6-1); Classier (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1); Brickyard Ride (Juan Hernandez, 8-1); Flagstaff (Joe Bravo, 3-1); C Z Rocket (Peter Miller, 5-2), and California Street (Wayne Barnett, 30-1).

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Medina Spirit Vs. Rock Your World Showdown In Sunday’s Shared Belief Stakes

A delicious confrontation between two of the aces from this year's Triple Crown events will unfold at Del Mar Sunday when Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and Kentucky Derby/Belmont Stakes competitor Rock Your World match strides over a mile in the 47th running of the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes.

Six in all have entered the headliner for 3-year-olds, but the two “Triple” guys will draw the most eyes and the most action. Jon White, Del Mar's morning line maker, has made Medina Spirit a slight 7/5 favorite over rival Rock Your World at 8/5.

It is likely that both colts are using the Shared Belief as a “prep” for bigger and better things to come in the near future. But both undoubtedly have designs on this year's Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Del Mar. Sunday's test will be a perfect chance for each to get a feel for the seaside oval where neither has raced before.

Medina's Spirit, a son of the relatively unknown sire Protonico, made history with his Kentucky Derby win on May 1, then was the victim of a controversy centering on him possibly racing that afternoon with a drug not permitted on race day. A ruling on that matter still awaits a Kentucky Racing Commission statement. Subsequently, he ran third in the Preakness Stakes. The smallish Florida-bred races for Zedan Racing Stables and trains out of the barn of Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

Rock Your World is by the top stallion Candy Ride and lost all chance in the Kentucky Derby when he broke slowly and never had an opportunity to use his natural speed, finishing far back in the 19-horse lineup. Subsequently he showed speed in the 12-furlong Belmont, but could only finish sixth of eight. The tall, dark Kentucky-bred is trained by John Sadler for Hronis Racing or Talia Racing.

Medina Spirit has won three of seven starts with purses of $2,285,200. Of that amount, $1,860,000 was earned in the Kentucky Derby. Rock Your World has won three of five starts, including a tally in the Santa Anita Derby, and $591,600.

Both horses have been training in spirited fashion at Del Mar this summer for their return to racing. Both will have first-class riders in the boot Sunday – Hall of Famer John Velazquez coming in from New York to handle Medina Spirit and international riding star Umberto Rispoli returning to his role with Rock Your World.

Four other 3-year-olds are also in the lineup for the race and a victory by any of them obviously would be a large feather in their caps.

Here's the full field for the Shared Belief from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Thomsen Racing's Willy the Cobbler (Victor Espinoza, 20-1); Medina Spirit; Rock Your World; Reddam Racing's Team Merchants (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1); ERJ Racing, Brennan or Strauss, et al's The Great One (Flavien Prat, 6-1), and Steve Moger's Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1).

The Shared Belief was originally run as the El Cajon Stakes from 1973 to 2015. In 2016 it was rename for the champion horse – a winner of 10 of 12 starts and nearly $3 million in purses, including a score in Del Mar's 2014 TVG Pacific Classic — who had died unexpectedly from complications of colic.

The feature will be Race 9 on a 10-race card with a first post of 2 p.m.

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