Golden Mile, Sen. Ken Maddy Top Friday’s Undercard Races At Del Mar

Four stakes with combined purses of $700,000 will lead up to the five Breeders' Cup races – three worth $1 million and two worth $2 million – on Friday's 10-race program at Del Mar.

Check out the four not-to-be-underestimated events on the undercard:

Race No. 2: $150,000 Qatar Golden Mile; one mile (turf) for 2-year-olds. Ready to Purrform didn't make the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf field, so the son of Kitten's Joy, owned by Donegal Racing and trained by Brad Cox, will seek a third straight win to start his career in this one as the 5/2 morning line favorite.

Eoin Harty-trained Degree of Risk, Grade 1-placed at Woodbine, is the 4-1 second choice and has Del Mar's leading rider Flavien Prat in the saddle. Michael McCarthy-trained Optimising, with John Velazquez, is third at 5-1.

Optimising, owned by Red Barons Barn and Rancho Temescal, was fourth, beaten two lengths by McKinnon in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf on closing day of the summer meeting in his last start.

“He's only run once for us and we're still trying to figure him out, but he has been training well and we're glad to get him back down here,” McCarthy said.

Race No. 3: $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies; 7 furlongs for 2-year-old California-bred fillies. George Krikorian's Big Novel, trained by John Sadler, is the 3-1 morning line favorite off a third-place finish in the Generous Portion on Sept. 3 and a maiden win at Santa Anita on Oct. 2.

“Joe (jockey Joe Bravo) knows her well having ridden her twice already and working her in the mornings,” said Sadler assistant Juan Leyva. “Joe has been really happy with the way she has worked so I think she's just going to move forward off that.”

CTBA Stakes winner At the Spa and supplemental entry Vivacious Vanessa are the co-second choices at 4-1. Jorge Periban trains At the Spa, Gary Mandella has Vivacious Vanessa, a first-out winner on the turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 16.

“She won impressively, but there's no grass race for her until January, so we're going to try her on the dirt,” Mandella said. “She's fit enough because she just ran a mile.”

Race No. 4: $200,000 Senator Ken Maddy; 5 furlongs (turf) for fillies and mares.

Superstition, a winner of the Daisycutter Stakes here on July 25 over the same course, is the 3-1 morning line favorite. The 4-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, owned by Ramona or Perry Bass, trained by Richard Mandella and ridden by Prat, was third in a Grade 3 event a Kentucky Downs on Sept. 11 in her last start.

Hear My Prayer, one-for-one at Del Mar in a 10-race career, is 4-1 from the inside post for owners Holly and David Wilson and trainer Vladimir Cerin. Third choice at 5-1 is Doug O'Neill-trained A G Indy at 5-1. The 4-year-old daughter of Take Charge Indy owned by R3 Racing won twice over the course at the summer meeting.

“She's training well, has good speed and I've got Umberto Rispoli on her (for the fourth straight time) so I give her a good chance in there even though it is a very tough race,” O'Neill said.

Race No. 5: $175,000 Golden State Juvenile; 7 furlongs for California-bred 2-year-olds.

Joker Boy, trained by Brian Koriner, is the 7-2 morning line favorite based on a wire-to-wire win in the six-furlong I'm Smokin Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 4. Finneus, Walther Solis' Del Mar Futurity runner-up, is next at 4-1 and Reddam Racing's Slow Down Andy third on the morning line at 5-1. A son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, Slow Down Andy, trained by O'Neill, was a debuting winner by 4 ¾ lengths at Santa Anita on Oct. 9.

“His first start was really impressive and he landed a really good outside post (No. 11) for this, so we're optimistic he can repeat his debut,” O'Neill said.

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Kentucky Downs Takes Entries, Draws Post Positions For Sept. 11 Graded Stakes Card

The fields are set for the summer's biggest day of turf racing, as entries were taken and post positions drawn Saturday for the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs' blockbuster Sept. 11 card featuring five graded stakes at the Franklin, Ky., track.

The Super Saturday is the marquee attraction among six huge days of racing Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sept. 11 and 12. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central. All the races will be shown on TVG.

Purses for next Saturday's 11 races total $4,692,000, of which $2.2 million comes from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund for registered Kentucky-bred horses. That's the vast majority of the horses running, but even the base purse that everyone competes for reflects some of the richest pots in the country.

“The card is amazing,” said Kentucky Downs Vice President for Racing Ted Nicholson. “Hats off to our racing office.”

The headliners are the $1 million Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles and the $1 million Grade 3 FanDuel Turf Sprint at six furlongs. Both are “Win and You're In” stops on the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and will be televised live by NBC. The Turf Cup winner will get a fees-paid berth in the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf and the FanDuel winner the same in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 6.

Donegal Racing's Arklow, the 2020 and 2018 Calumet Turf Cup winner, renews his rivalry with Michael Hui's 2019 victor Zulu Alpha, who was sidelined after last year's stakes and is 0 for 2 this year. Arklow would be the first three-time winner of the race. But they'll have to beat another Grade 1 winner in Channel Cat, returning to Kentucky Downs for the first time since he captured the 2018 Dueling Grounds Derby. He's owned by stakes sponsor Calumet Farm.

Arklow won Churchill Downs' Louisville Stakes and most recently was seventh in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, but beaten only 1 3/4 lengths for everything.

Mike Maker, a five-time meet-leader and Kentucky Downs' record-holder in career wins, has five of the 12 horses in the body of the Calumet Turf Cup, headed by Zulu Alpha. The others are Tide of the Sea, a Kentucky Downs winner last year and Gulfstream's Grade 3 McKnight this year; Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview winner Bluegrass Parkway; Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup third-place finisher Ajourneytofreedom, and Glynn County, third in Arlington Park's Grade 1 Mr. D, the race formerly known as the Arlington Million. A sixth Maker entrant, Dynadrive, needs three scratches to get in the field.

Also in the field: Breakpoint, a triple Grade 1 winner in his native Chile, goes for his first U.S. win in three starts; Irish Group 3 winner Crossfirehurricane; Grade 1 United Nations runner-up Imperador and United Nations third Epic Bromance. Big Dreaming, second in last year's Dueling Grounds Derby, needs a defection to get in.

The FanDuel Turf Sprint brings back last year's top three finishers in Imprimis and the dead-heat runners-up Bombard and Front Run the Fed, who finished a neck behind the winner. But the favorite is likely to be boys-beater Got Stormy, winner of last year's Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint over very soft turf in her first attempt at sprinting. Got Stormy is the only filly or mare to win Saratoga's Grade 1 Fourstardave, having done so in her last start and in 2019 after taking second last year. She has been second in three other Grade 1 starts against males, including in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Mile.

“We've never backed down from a challenge,” says Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, who acknowledges his desire to pad Got Stormy's own Hall of Fame credentials.

Other challengers: Casa Creed, winner of Belmont's Grade 1 Jackpocket Jaipur at the six-furlong distance; multiple graded stakes-winner Diamond Oops; the blossoming Fast Boat, a past winner over the course who last out won Saratoga's Grade 3 Troy Stakes, and Born Great, who last year won a Kentucky Downs maiden and allowance race in the span of a week.

The Richard Baltas-trained Venetian Harbor ships in from California for the $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint. The 4-year-old filly has been worse than second only once in 10 starts. In two turf races, she was second in her debut and won Santa Anita's Grade 2 Monrovia.

Also in from the West Coast is the multiple stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Superstition for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. John Sadler sends out Santa Anita stakes-winner Constantia in the overflow field of 14.

The beer will be flowing in Henderson if Yes It's Ginger prevails. There were so many people connected to Henderson beer distributor Mike “Hotdog” Utley, as well as the Brilliant Racing and Tagg Team Racing partnerships, that the winner's circle presentation had to move to the main track after “Ginger” prevailed in the Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint, which gave her a free roll in this 6 1/2-furlong race.

The Casse-trained Jeanie B lost a Grade 2 stakes at Woodbine by a nose in her last start for owner CJ Thoroughbreds, whose managing partner Corey Johnsen was president and part-owner of Kentucky Downs before its sale to Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone.

Violenza enters the race off victory in a $100,000 turf sprint at Colonial Downs in her stakes debut for trainer Ian Wilkes and his son-in-law jockey Chris Landeros. The Maker-trained Jakarta has been off form but won a starter-allowance race here last year.

The $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Mile is headlined by 5-for-6 Princess Grace, winner of three straight stakes capped by Del Mar's Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon. The Mike Stidham-trained Princess Grace shares the 126-pound high-weight with 2020 One Dreamer winner Dalika.

She'sonthewarpath, an eight-time winner out of 19 starts, is in peak form off of two stakes victories at Ellis Park. Florida trainer Saffie Joseph has the horse to catch in Shifty She, a two-time stakes-winner at Gulfstream and a good third in Saratoga's De La Rose won by 2020 Ladies Mile winner Regal Glory.

Summer in Saratoga, an allowance winner here last year for trainer Joe Sharp, won Indiana Grand's Indiana General Assembly Distaff in her last start.

With The Lir Jet, Qatar Racing will try to win the $600,000 Franklin-Simpson for the third straight year, and the first time with the stakes a Grade 2. Qatar Racing won last year's stakes with Guildsman, who like The Lir Jet is trained by Brendan Walsh, and in 2019 with the Doug O'Neill-trained Legends of War. The Lir Jet won Royal Ascot's Group 2 Norfolk as a 2-year-old but is winless since. He makes his debut both in the United States and as a gelding.

Sharing high weight status of 124 pounds with The Lir Jet is the Eddie Kenneally-trained Point Me By, winner of Arlington Park's Grade 1 Bruce D. Stakes (formerly the Secretariat).

The field of twelve 3-year-old stakes-winners, with three others on the also-eligible list, includes the filly Miss Amulet, a Group 2 winner in England and a close second in a Group 1. Other contenders in a talented field: Woodbine's Grade 3 Marine winner Easy Time; the Wesley Ward duo of Churchill Downs' War Chant winner Next and Ellis Park's Dade Park Dash victor Into the Sunrise, and American Derby winner Tango Tango Tango. Other stakes-winners are Bodenheimer, King of Miami, Omaha City, and County Final. Last year's Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint runner-up Fauci, also trained by Ward, needs a scratch to get in the field.

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Brandothebartender First In California Dreamin’, Superstition Best In Daisycutter

The hard-knocking veteran Brandothebartender set 'em up and knocked 'em down late Sunday in capturing the $152,000 California Dreamin' Stakes by a half-length at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

The 8-year-old gelding by Tribal Rule made the 46th start of his career a winner and took down the top share of $85,500 from the purse for California-breds. He now has total winnings of $772,864 after six seasons at the racetrack and a performance record that reads 46-9-7-15.

Umberto Rispoli was aboard the winner, the 12th time he's ridden him in a race. The bay veteran is trained by Craig Dollase, who got his owners to invest $40,000 in claiming him three years ago at Del Mar. The ownership group consists of Flawless Racing of Jerry Weseloh and Brian Flanagan, both of San Diego, and Michael Jarvis of Manhattan Beach, CA.

Finishing second in the mile and one-sixteenth on the turf was Barber or Wachtel Stable's Indian Peak and running third was Messineo or Sands' North County Guy.

Brandothebartender ran the distance in 1:42.55, and returned $11.40, $5.60, and $3.60 across the board. Indian Peak paid off at $6.40 and $4.20 and North County Guy paid $3.80 to show.

UMBERTO RISPOLI (Brandothebartender, winner) – “I love this horse. I know him better than my son (the rider has ridden him in 12 races). It's unbelievable. He's such a cool horse to ride. You can do anything with him – sprint, long, grass, in front, come from the back. He does it all. You just ask him and he does it. Somehow I knew Flavien (rider Flavien Prat on Indian Peak) was going to make that early lead (he went to the lead on the far turn), so I said 'I'm following him.' Then my horse did his thing. So much fun to win on him for his wonderful ownership group and to win here at Del Mar. It's all the best.”

CRAIG DOLLASE (Brandothebartender, winner) – “The owners are just a great bunch of people; we were so lucky to get this horse two years ago off the claim (for $40,000) and he has been a gem. He's such a fighter in the lane and he did it again. He's eight (years old) and he doesn't know it.”

FRACTIONS: :23.83 :48.78 1:13.85 1:36.77 1:42.55

The stakes win was the first of the meet for rider Rispoli and his first in the California Dreamin'. He now has nine stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Dollase, but his second in the California Dreamin' (Rock Me Baby, 2014). He now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owners are Flawless Racing (Jerry Weseloh of San Diego), Brian Flanagan of San Diego, and Michael Jarvis of Manhattan Beach, Calif.

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Earlier on the card, the 4-year-old filly Superstition won as the race favorite in the $90,380 Daisycutter Handicap, running five furlongs on turf in :56.89 and paying $6 to win. The daughter of Ghostzapper is owned by Perry or Ramona Bass and is trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella. She was handled by Del Mar's leading rider, Flavien Prat, who was scoring his third win on the afternoon.

The track's Pick Six bet was not hit again Sunday meaning there will be a carryover of $328,081 into Thursday's return to racing. First post will be 2 p.m.

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Prat Maintains Hot Hand Aboard Superstition In Wishing Well Stakes

Richard Mandella's Superstition brushed off a subpar performance in her most recent start with a solid effort in Monday's $75,000 Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as she spurted clear a furlong from home and registered an impressive 1 ½-length victory over morning line favorite Oleksandra.  Ridden by Flavien Prat, Superstition got 6 ½ furlongs on firm turf in 1:14.22.

With longshot So Much Happy rocketing to the lead from the rail, Superstition was a joint second with Aqua Seaform Shame, about 3 ½ lengths off the lead heading into the far turn.  With her target in plain sight, Superstition had two lengths to make up at the three sixteenths pole and from there kicked into high gear under aggressive handling from Prat.

“I was disappointed in her last race, because we know she has a lot of ability, her earlier races show that,” said Prat, in reference to a fourth place run at six furlongs on turf in the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes on Jan. 9.  “She has plenty of speed, but it's nice to see her relax.  Having that horse in front of us helped.”

A five-furlong turf maiden winner Nov. 14 and a five-furlong turf allowance winner on Nov. 29, Superstition was off at 9-2 in a field of seven older fillies and mares and paid $11.80, $4.60 and $3.20.

“She had been training better going into this,” Mandella allowed.  “She settled better today, which is encouraging.  We might think about a mile next time.”

A 4-year-old filly by Ghostzapper out of the Distorted Humor mare Grand Glory, Superstition is owned by Perry R. and Ramona S. Bass.  In getting her first stakes win, Superstition improved her overall mark to 7-3-2-1 and with the winner's share of $48,360, increased her earnings to $153,180.

Last turning for home, about six lengths off the lead, Neil Drysdale's Oleksandra put in a determined bid but ran out of real estate while finishing 1 ¾ lengths clear of Constantia. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Australian-bred Oleksandra was off at 8-5 and paid $3.20 and $2.40.

With Jose Valdivia, Jr. up, Constantia rallied from next to last at 16-1 and paid $4.00 to show while finishing a neck clear of French-bred Guitty.

Third in the Las Cienegas, Lighthouse got crushed in the late betting to go off as the 7-5 favorite but never threatened while finishing fifth with Juan Hernandez.

Fractions on the race were 20.75, 43.03 and 1:07.83.

Note:  Prat also won the eighth and final race, giving him three wins on the day, capping a huge four-day week that saw him win 11 races, including two stakes.  With 30 wins through 25 racing days, he's one win clear of Juan Hernandez atop the jockey standings and with 998 North American wins he's just two shy of an important milestone heading into Friday's nine-race card which begins at 12:30 p.m.

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