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Oscar Performance Colt Endlessly Overpowers Del Mar Juvenile Turf Foes

Amerman Racing's homebred Endlessly was a smart 2 1/4-length winner under leading rider Juan Hernandez of the Grade 3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf on Del Mar's closing day card on Sunday. The colt by Oscar Performance was scoring his second win in his second start after registering a maiden score locally on July 30.

Endlessly, who is trained by Michael McCarthy, picked up a check for $60,000 for his tally and improved his bankroll to $109,200. The score was McCarthy's third of the day.

Colbart Stables or McCarthy Racing's Lord Bullington – also trained by Michael McCarthy – checked in second, a length in front of Pin Oak Stud's Boltage, the 11-10 favorite in the mile on turf.

The winner covered the distance in 1:35.28 and paid $7.60 for $2.

In the track's “mandatory Pick Six,” there were 482 winning tickets, each worth $4,102. The total pool for the race amounted to $2,522,443.

JUAN HERNANDEZ (Endlessly, winner) – “I had a good trip. Mike (trainer Michael 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.”

MICHAEL MCCARTHY (Endlessly, winner) – “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. 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.”

FRACTIONS: :22.71 :46.61 1:11.44 1:23.33 1:35.28

The stakes win was the eighth of the meet for rider Hernandez and the second of the session for trainer McCarthy.

This was Hernandez's second victory in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf (Mackinnon, 2021) and his 41st overall at Del Mar.

This was trainer McCarthy's first tally in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf, but his seventh Del Mar stakes victory overall.

The winning owners are Amerman Racing of John and Jerry Amerman of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

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Prince Of Monaco Leads 1-2 Baffert Finish In Runhappy Del Mar Futurity

The undefeated colt Prince of Monaco walked his beat smartly in the Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity as the 84th Del Mar summer season came to a positive close Sunday at the shore.

With Flavien Prat at the controls and the odds board saying the son of champion Speightstown was no more than five cents to the dollar, Prince of Monaco always looked like a winner in the $300,500 seven-furlong headliner and in the end his three-quarter length triumph proved plenty enough to his backers.

The victory gave Del Mar's leading trainer Bob Baffert his 17th score in the championship race and his 165th stakes victory overall at Del Mar.

The racy dark bay or brown youngster, who fetched $950,000 at a yearling sale, is owned by a multiple partnership headed by SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables. His victory was worth $180,000, pushing his bankroll to $327,000. In his prior start he captured the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 13.

Finishing second in the stakes was the same ownership group's Mirahmadi. He wound up 3 3/4 lengths better than Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Next Level.

Prince of Monaco ran the seven furlongs in 1:22.65 and paid $2.10 for $2.

In the track's mandatory Pick 6 payout, there were 482 winning tickets, each worth $4,102. The total pool for the race amounted to $2,522,443.

Racing will return to Del Mar on Nov. 10 for the Bing Crosby Season.

FLAVIEN PRAT (Prince of Monaco, winner) – “He broke well and I thought I was going to go to the lead. But other horses went for it, so we waited. On the turn, he made his move and we made the lead. His teammate (stablemate 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.”

JIMMY BARNES (Assistant to Bob Baffert) (Prince of Monaco, winner) – “It was the right kind of trip we were looking for. 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 straightforward. I'm very proud of both of them.”

FRACTIONS: :22.18 :44.75 1:09.33 1:22.65

The stakes win was the fourth of the session for rider Prat and the ninth for trainer Baffert.

Rider Prat was winning his second Futurity (Dr. Schivel, 2020) and his 90th stakes overall at Del Mar, ninth best among al riders.

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Austere Stays Perfect With Juvenile Fillies Victory At Kentucky Downs, Possible For Breeders’ Cup

By Mike Kane

In their first time together, Austere and jockey Tyler Gaffalione turned out to be ideally matched Sunday as they won the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Fillies Stakes by three lengths at Kentucky Downs.

Gaffalione gave the daughter of Mendelssohn a clever ride, guiding her toward the inside into a stalking position in third, a couple of lengths behind Bella Haze and favorite Cynane. The pace was sharp :22.51 for the first quarter mile and :45.88 for the half-mile.

When Gaffalione asked, Austere moved closer to the leaders as they were passing the half-mile pole. By the top of the stretch, Gaffalione had decided to go to the outside and she quickly passed Cynane and then Bella Haze to take control.

Running alone in the stretch, Austere reached the wire in the one-mile race in 1:35.48, much faster than the final time of 1:38.17 in the Juvenile Mile one race earlier. Bella Haze continued on to finish second, a neck in front of Latte Lizzie, who edged Kodiac Wintergreen by a head.

Austere, the third choice in the field of eight, paid $10.40 to win.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said he was expecting a big performance for the filly co-owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Gary Finder, Tucci Stables, Cambron Equine LLC, and Belmar Racing and Breeding.

“It was not a surprise at all,” Walsh said by phone. “She'd been working great. We think she has lots of talent. It was great to go there and win. It looks like she's going to be a nice filly going forward.”

Walsh said with the Kentucky Downs win Austere might be considered for the Breeder' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

“You'd have to after today,” he said. “She's 2 for 2 now. We'll see how she comes out of it and go from there. But she's done nothing wrong so far.”

Gaffalione said that Austere did everything right for him.

“I took her off the pony and she warmed up great,” he said. “She stood perfect in the gate, got a great start and we were able to establish good position.”

After she started smartly from post 6, Gaffalione had options and decided to take a ground-saving route behind the leaders.

“Everybody was wanting to stay off the rail yesterday, especially,” he said, “but it dried out quite a bit today and there's actually a real slim path down on the fence that hasn't really been used up. It's pretty good footing in there.”

Gaffalione said Austere felt good under him the whole trip.

“I was very confident,” he said. “She put me in a great spot. She traveled well within herself and showed a really nice turn of foot today.”

Austere was bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm. Produced by the British-bred Observatory mare Argumentative, she sold to Bradley Thoroughbreds for $150,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where Lane's End consigned her.

On August 5, Bella Haze provided trainer Carlos Santamaria with his first win as a trainer after working as an assistant for many years in California. She produced another big performance for him under Joel Rosario in her first try in stakes company.

“She just broke her maiden a few of weeks ago at Ellis Park (on dirt),” he said. “But we know she's got a little bit of pedigree for the grass, so we decided to come here. She ran a huge race. We're just grateful to Joel the way he rode her. We're going to see how she looks in the next few days and make another plan for her. But we're super happy with her.”

Kodiac Wintergreen was the second choice in the wagering at 5-2. The daughter of Kodiac is owned by Houston Astros star third baseman Alex Bregman and came into the race off an impressive maiden victory at Saratoga. She was not able to replicate her late run at Saratoga under regular rider Jose Ortiz.

“First time in a stake. First time at a mile,” said trainer Rusty Arnold. “We're a little disappointed. (Ortiz ) said that she never quit running, she kept kicking on and the winner was really good. What did we get beat? A head, a neck for second? So it wasn't a horrible race, but we're a little disappointed. We thought we were going to run a little bit better, but back to the drawing board and get ready for the next one.”

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Aspenite Cruises To First Career Win In Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile

Aspenite, a 2-year-old colt by Constitution, is a blue collar horse. All he wants to do is go to work.

Sunday, Aspenite put on his hard hat again and did what he loves to do. Run.

Owned by Ron Winchell, who is a co-managing partner of Kentucky Downs, Aspenite broke his maiden when he won the 12th running of the $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile by 31/4 lengths.

The race was the youngster's third outing in 36 days. The last time he ran was 11 days ago when he finished second in an allowance race at Kentucky Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen had no concern about bringing Aspenite back so quick.

“None,” he said. “He went back to the track feeling good, that it didn't knock him out. We left him here and he trained back over the racetrack and showed plenty of spirit and attitude. We felt really good about him today.”

Jockey Cristian Torres, riding the Kentucky Downs meet for the first time, was also making his debut on Aspenite. He went straight to the lead over the firm turf and stayed there. Torres said his mount was comfortable throughout as he set solid early fractions of :22.59 for the quarter and :45.25 for the half.

Torres was in no hurry to ask Aspenite to turn it on. That would come, he said, when he got to the quarter pole.

When the field turned for home, Aspenite had built a two-length lead and Torres was about ready to give him his cue.

“He was still in hand as we turned for home,” said Torres, who won three races on the day. “When I chased the rein on him, he took off. When we passed the quarter pole, I really asked him. I wanted to wait as long as I could and he was there for me.”

Aspenite poured it on in the final eighth of a mile as the lead grew to three lengths. Tough Little Nut, ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Chris Block, was also running in the stretch but he was never going to get to the winner.

Sent off as the 6-1 fourth choice, Aspenite covered the one-mile trip in 1:38.17 and paid $15.06 for the win.

Tough Little Nut, who came into this off a maiden win at Hawthorne on Aug. 20, was second, 2½ lengths ahead of the Brad Cox-trained Mozlzil, the 5-2 favorite.

Block said that 10-1 Tough Little Nut had some trouble on the far turn.

“Jose had to take up a little bit and it cost him some ground,” Block said. “I don't think it cost him the race – it was a nice horse that won it – but it might have been a little closer. I am just proud of him. We came up here from Hawthorne out of a little maiden special race up here to go against these guys. He showed up.”

Aspenite started his career with a fourth-place finish at Saratoga on Aug. 5 in a one-mile race that was taken off the grass.

Like he did in his debut, he showed speed in a $250,000 allowance race at 61/2-furlong Aug. 31 at Kentucky Downs.

“He looked home free (Aug. 31) and just looked like he got a little lost here late,” Asmussen said. “Came back today and finished it off. He sees everything. That's just kind of how he is. He benefited from the experience and cashed in on a very good day.”

Of course, winning a race for Winchell, who is a long-time client for Asmussen was special.

“Obviously, Kentucky Downs is as fun as it can possibly be,” said Asmussen, who won two races Sunday and now has three for the meet. “We love to run horses here. We started off pretty slow but definitely picked it up nicely this week.”

After putting in plenty of work the last month, Aspenite will get some time off.

Aspenite is out of the Candy Ride mare Aspening. He was purchased by Winchell Thoroughbreds at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $375,000. Breeder Glen Hill Farm consigned him.

Rose Collector finished fourth and was followed home by Legal Titan, Good Bali, Sambalover, Gamblin George, Value Engineer, Blue Eyed George, Baytown Parfait and Billy the Greek.

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