Oscar Dominguez To Defend Title In Friday’s Hollywood Turf Cup

Oscar Dominguez, who pulled off an upset of United at odds of 11-1 in the 2019 Hollywood Turf Cup, is entered to defend the title when the Grade 2, $200,000 event is run for the 39th time overall and the seventh at Del Mar on Friday.

The now 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding, owned by Nancy Messineo and Bruce Sands and trained by Richard Baltas, rallied from last of 10 with a mile to go in the 1 ½-mile marathon to win by a neck under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez last year. Another top rider from the east, Irad Ortiz, Jr., will be aboard on Friday as Oscar Dominguez seeks to end an 0-for-5 record in 2020 that has followed the Turf Cup score.

The other entrants, in alphabetical order with jockeys in parenthesis are: Another Mystery (Mike Smith), Arklow (Joel Rosario), Fivestar Lynch (Abel Cedillo), Laccario (Manuel Franco), Marckie's Water (Tiago Pereira), North County Guy (Mario Gutierrez), Proud Pedro (Juan Hernandez), Red King (Umberto Rispoli), Say the Word (Flavien Prat), Tartini (No Rider) and Ward 'N Jerry (No Rider).

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Motion Looking Ahead To 2021 With Mean Mary; Sending German Group 1 Winner Laccario West To Del Mar

Trainer Graham Motion said he is already thinking well into 2021 with multiple graded stakes-winner Mean Mary with a title defense in the Grade 2 New York at Belmont Park an option for the well-bred daughter of Scat Daddy.

Owned and bred by Alex Campbell, Jr., Mean Mary was a gate-to-wire winner of the classic-distance turf event, which she won by 5 ¼ lengths under jockey Luis Saez. She was a last out seventh in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, where she was in contention early on and maintained a favorable position in mid-stretch before fading.

Motion also saddled Invincible Gal and Alda in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, who finished a respective 11th and 12th.

“They all came back well,” Motion said of his Breeders' Cup contingent. “I was hoping for a better run from Mean Mary, but it's the Breeders' Cup and these races are obviously very tough.”

Out of the Grade 1-winning Dynaformer mare Karlovy Vary, Mean Mary posted her fourth straight victory in the New York which she followed with a game runner-up finish to Rushing Fall in the Grade 1 Diana on Aug. 23 at Saratoga. Prior to the New York, she won the Grade 2 La Prevoyante going 1 ½ miles and Grade 3 Orchid going 1 3/8 miles, both at Gulfstream Park, displaying a similar frontrunning fashion.

Motion also spoke of Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic runner-up Laccario, who joined Motion's barn after making his North American debut in  the 1 ½-mile event at Belmont Park and said the German Group 1 winner will ship to California for the Grade 2, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 27 at Del Mar.

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Del Mar’s Hollywood Turf Cup Could Have East Coast Flavor

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club racing secretary David Jerkens reports there is serious interest from several eastern trainers with likely runners for Del Mar's Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup scheduled for Friday, Nov. 27. The $200,000 race will be contested at a mile and one-half on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Trainer Brad Cox has indicated his multiple-stakes winner Arklow, most recently seen running sixth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland, might be on board for the marathon. Trainer Mike Maker is considering two of his route runners in Big Agenda and Aquaphobia. The latter was a Grade 1 winner on the grass this year.

Also possible for the seventh local edition of the stakes is the German stakes winner Laccario for trainer Andreas Wohler, as well as trainer Graham Motion's Ziyad, a European import who ran third in the G3 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 15 in his initial U.S. start.

The Hollywood Turf Cup will be part of a seven-stakes-all-on-the-grass bonanza that starts on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) and runs through the track's closing afternoon on Sunday, Nov. 29.

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Del Mar Maintains Purse Levels For 2020 Fall Stakes Schedule

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will present its seventh fall race meeting – officially titled the Bing Crosby Season in a salute to the seaside track's founder – with 16 stakes worth $2,250,000 scheduled during a 15-day session starting on Saturday, October 31.

Despite the concerns and obvious issues around the ongoing pandemic, the track was able to maintain the same purse amounts for its stakes as presented in 2019, including $300,000 incentives for its pair of Grade Is and $200,000 for its two Grade IIs.

Additionally, because Del Mar serves as California host for the Breeders' Cup races this year, it also will run two California-bred sprint stakes for juveniles that were not on its agenda the past two seasons.

Nine of the 16 fall stakes are graded; nine of the 16 stakes will be run on turf; seven of the stakes – all of them on grass – will be presented over the track's extended closing weekend which begins on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, and goes until closing day on Sunday, November 29.

“Given the current climate of things, we are very pleased to keep our fall stakes purse levels intact,” said David Jerkens, Del Mar's racing secretary. “The response to our summer racing program was exceptional. We are expecting similar results this fall. I am especially excited about our Thanksgiving stakes weekend, which has taken on national prominence.”

The track's two premier stakes will be presented on its closing weekend – the Grade I, $300,000 Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at nine furlongs on Saturday, November 28 and the Grade I, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on Sunday, November 29. Both are run on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Additionally, closing weekend also will offer the Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and one-half on Thanksgiving Friday, November 27 and the Grade II, $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap for 3-year-olds and up and a mile and one-sixteenth on November 28.

Racing will be conducted Saturday and Sunday for opening weekend, then Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next three weeks, finishing finally with a four-day week around Thanksgiving.

First post daily will be 12:30 p.m. on all racing days with the exception of the track's special holiday card on Thanksgiving Thursday when racing begins at 11 a.m.

There will be six stakes offered for juveniles, led off by the two Cal-bred dashes – the $150,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies on Friday, November 6 and the $150,000 Golden State Juvenile on Saturday, November 7, both at seven furlongs.

Three of the juvenile tests are Grade IIIs – the $100,000 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs on Sunday, November 15; the $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on the grass on Saturday, November 28, and the $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on Sunday, November 29, also at a mile on the lawn.

The Bing Crosby Season once again will kick off with a pair of $75,000 overnight stakes — the Kathryn Crosby Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf October 31 and the Let It Ride Stakes for 3-year-olds at the same distance and surface on November 1.

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
Sat. Oct 31 Kathryn Crosby Stakes*
Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up
$75,000 Added
1 Mile (Turf)
Sun. Nov 01 Let it Ride Stakes*
Three-year-olds
$75,000 Added
1 Mile (Turf)
Fri. Nov 06 GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE FILLIES
Fillies, Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred
$150,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 07 GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE
Two-year-olds, Cal-Bred
$150,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Sun. Nov 08 BETTY GRABLE STAKES
Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred
$100,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 14 DESI ARNAZ STAKES
Fillies, Two-year-olds
$100,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Sun. Nov 15 BOB HOPE STAKES (GR. III)
Two-year-olds
$100,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Sat. Nov 21 NATIVE DIVER STAKES (GR. III)
Three-year-olds & up
$100,000 Guaranteed
1 1/8 Miles
Sun. Nov 22 CARY GRANT STAKES
Three-year-olds & up, Cal-Bred
$100,000 Guaranteed
7 Furlongs
Thu. Nov 26 RED CARPET HANDICAP (GR. III)
Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up
$100,000 Guaranteed
1 3/8 Miles (Turf)
Fri. Nov 27 HOLLYWOOD TURF CUP (GR. II)
Three-year-olds & up
$200,000 Guaranteed
1 1/2 Miles (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28 JIMMY DURANTE STAKES (GR. III)
Fillies, Two-year-olds
$100,000 Guaranteed
1 Mile (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28 SEABISCUIT HANDICAP (GR. II)
Three-year-olds & up
$200,000 Guaranteed
1 1/16 Miles (Turf)
Sat. Nov 28 HOLLYWOOD DERBY (GR. I)
Three-year-olds
$300,000 Guaranteed
1 1/8 Miles (Turf)
Sun. Nov 29 CECIL B. DEMILLE STAKES (GR. III)
Two-year-olds
$100,000 Guaranteed
1 Mile (Turf)
Sun. Nov 29 MATRIARCH STAKES (GR. I)
Fillies & Mares, Three-year-olds & up
$300,000 Guaranteed
1 Mile (Turf)

* Indicates Overnight Stakes

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