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Prat Wins On East Coast, Veterans Take Del Mar Stakes Saturday

Del Mar's leading rider Flavien Prat notched another stakes victory in the second of his three-day soiree to Saratoga Race Course, the upstate New York track known as The Spa, for major race assignments.

Prat took the $200,000 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes on Friday aboard Public Sector ($3.80) for trainer Chad Brown. Saturday, the same combination scored in the $120,000 Fasig-Tipton Lure Stakes with Flavius ($4.70).

Prat was fourth, beaten 6 ¾ lengths by Bella Sofia, aboard Always Carina for Brown in the $500,000 Grade 1 Longines Test Stakes. One race later on the card, Del Mar-based Hall of Famer Mike Smith was fifth, beaten 4 ½-lengths by 21-1 long shot State of Rest, aboard Secret Protector for English trainer Charles Appleby.

Meanwhile, Del Mar's pair of Grade 2 events on Saturday were won by riders with a combined total age of 100 and combined total experience of 62,819 races and 11,591 wins.

Joe Bravo, 49 for another month, took the first of the back-to-back stakes, the $200,500 Best Pal, getting Pappacap to settle nicely behind dueling front runners then swooping to a 4 3/4-length score. According to Equibase statistics, Bravo ended the day with 30,507 career races and 5,505 wins.

“His (only previous) race in Florida, he was just pure speed,” Bravo said. “You don't know if that's the way they like to go. I was glad to see how well he settled in behind those two up front. He showed another dimension today.”

Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux, 51, won the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon on Princess Grace for trainer Mike Stidham. At Desormeaux's urging, the 4-year-old filly shot through a gap between horses at the top of the stretch to take the lead and was never headed in winning by 1 ¼ lengths.

“Michael told me one thing before the race that I used to advantage,” Desormeaux related. “He said, 'She's brave.' When that hole opened turning for home, I sent her through and she went right on with it.”

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Desormeaux, who missed much of 2020 while addressing personal issues, has 32,312 career starts and 6,086 wins according to Equibase statistics.

“I'm so happy for Kent,” Stidham said. “He's so talented, an amazing rider, and the way he came through that hole with (Princess Grace) was terrific.”

Bravo stands fifth in the Del Mar rider standings with nine wins from 53 mounts. Desormeaux is in seventh place with seven victories in 45 starts.

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D’Amato Readies Two For Yellow Ribbon, Cathkin Peak For La Jolla

Trainer Phil D'Amato reported Saturday morning that 2-year-old filly Elm Drive came out of her victory in Friday's $200,000 Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes “really good” physically.

And if the Kentucky-bred daughter of Mohaymen, a $165,000 purchase at the Ocala sale in March who carries the colors of Little Red Feather Racing stays that way, she'll next be seen in the $300,000 Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante on September 5.

“Yup, absolutely,” was D'Amato's response when the Debutante was mentioned in the winner's circle after she prevailed by a head over Baoma Corp's Eda in a stretch-long duel while covering six furlongs in 1:10.64.

“She broke on top then Juan (Hernandez) got her to rate, make a move and fight off a rival to her outside the length of the stretch. I just thought that's the epitome of class. Very professional, and I think she's the type of filly that the longer (the races) the better.”

Having chalked up one stakes victory for the weekend, D'Amato will send out Raymundos Secret (6-1) and Charmaine's Mia (4-1) in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon and narrowly favored (2-1) Cathkin Peak in Sunday's $150,000 Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes as a possible closer to three consecutive big days.

Irish-bred Cathkin Peak made his U.S. debut at Del Mar in late November a winning one and followed that with a December victory in the $80,000 Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Kicking off his 3-year-old campaign this year, Cathkin Peak was second to soon-to-be Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World in the $100,000 Pasadena Stakes in February and has gone unraced since.

“He had a couple of little things we needed to deal with, but he never left the barn and he has come back to train really well,” D'Amato said. Cathkin Peak will go 1 1/16 miles, the longest assignment of his career, in the La Jolla – second leg in the grass stakes series for 3-year-olds during the Del Mar summer. His previous starts were all at a mile.

“He's really tactical,” D'Amato said. “If there's not a lot of pace, he can be up close; if there is, he can sit back and make a late move. Juan can play the break and try to have him in the right spot.”

The field for the La Jolla from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: Stilleto Boy (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Wyfire (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Hudson Ridge (Abel Cedillo, 5-2); Cathkin Peak (Juan Hernandez, 2-1); Zoffarelli (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), and Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1).

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Upcoming Del Mar Stakes Feature Two-Year-Olds, Rock Your World

Four stakes that spotlight promising 2-year-olds, the second leg of the series for 3-year-olds, and the 69th running of the Yellow Ribbon for older fillies and mares on turf comprise a six-pack of added-money events for the fourth week of the meeting starting Thursday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

The $100,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Stakes, at 5 ½ furlongs for California-bred 2-year-old fillies initiates things on Thursday. From a list of 12 nominations, a field of nine was entered Saturday with Jorge Periban-trained At the Spa significantly coming in off a victory in a $100,000 stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., in June.

The post position draw was to be held later in the day. The field in alphabetical order with jockeys in parenthesis: At the Spa (Tyler Baze); Carmen Miranda (Giovanni Franco); Drizella (Juan Hernandez); Gianna's Wild Cat (Jessica Pyfer); Irish Wahine (Abel Cedillo); It's Simple (Mario Gutierrez); Ko Olina (Edwin Maldonado); Lion's Lair (Tiago Pereira) and Madiha (Umberto Rispoli).

Friday's feature is the $200,000 Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, often a stepping stone to the $300,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante near the end of the meeting. Bob Baffert, a seven-time Sorrento-winning trainer, has three of the 22 nominees.

Saturday card features the $200,000 Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon and the $200,000 Best Pal. The Yellow Ribbon, at 1 1/16 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, drew a dozen nominees topped by Simon Callaghan-trained Maxim Rate, winner of the Grade I Gamely at Santa Anita in May.

The Best Pal, often an identifier of potential for the $300,000 Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on closing day of the meeting, has 16 nominations, six of whom have been training outside California.

The week concludes Sunday with the $150,000 Grade 3 La Jolla, the second leg of the series for 3-year-olds, and the $100,000 Graduation Stakes for California-bred 2-year-olds.

John Sadler-trained Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World is among 15 nominations for the La Jolla, a return to turf racing for the son of Candy Ride after unsuccessful Triple Crown trail runs in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Fourteen were nominated to the Graduation, among them Luis Mendez-trained Big City Lights, a winner of two starts by a combined 19 ¾ lengths.

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‘Timing’ Is Right For Beau Recall To Repeat In Yellow Ribbon Handicap

Nick Cosato, a former jockey agent who is now head of the Slam Dunk Racing partnership organization, was introduced to the sport at a young age via weekend trips to Santa Anita with his father.

His father was good friends with Eduardo Inda, the right-hand man for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and an integral part of the team that campaigned John Henry to the Hall of Fame as well.

“So I was able to be around John Henry quite a bit,” Cosato said. “I've got pictures with me and John Henry before and after he won the Santa Anita Handicap in 1982. John Henry was my lifelong favorite – until Beau Recall came along. For her to be at that level, in my mind, speaks volumes.”

Beau Recall, a 6-year-old Irish-bred mare, is the defending champion in Saturday's $150,000, Grade II Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares which will be run for the 68th time.

In the 2019 Yellow Ribbon, Beau Recall rallied along the rail to win a by a margin so narrow it took several minutes to verify the photo, then several more for stewards to deny an objection for interference by the rider whose horse had finished last.

“It was a lengthy inquiry for something I didn't think merited being brought up in the first place,” Cosato recalled. “But in the end, the stewards' decision was the one we were hoping for.”

The Yellow Ribbon was one of three victories and three runner-up efforts in a six-race 2019 campaign for Beau Recall that accounted for $605,600 of her `more than $1.1 million in career earnings. The Yellow Ribbon was her second Grade II victory of the year, coming three months after a 10-1 upset in the Distaff Turf Mile, which gave Cosato and partners the thrill and prestige of going to the winner's circle before 150,729 spectators at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.

Cosato doesn't favor one over the other. He savors both.

“Any time you win one of those big races it's just a complete blessing,” Cosato, who grew up in Temple City and now lives in Sierra Madre, said. “Nothing beats winning at home, and I'm a Californian who has been coming to Del Mar since I was a kid.”

Beau Recall has raced twice in 2020. She finished ninth of 14, albeit beaten only 2 ¼ lengths, in the Mint Julep at Churchill Downs on May 30 and second in the Grade I Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park on June 27.

“Her comeback race (Mint Julep) turned out to be nothing more than a workout,” Cosato said. “She never had room to run, never got to unleash the late kick that makes her so good.”

In the Just a Game, Beau Recall's late charge came up three lengths short against front-running Newspaperofrecord but a half length ahead of Uni, winner of the 2018 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar and an Eclipse Award as the top female turf runner last year.

Beau Recall prevailed over five rivals, among them multiple stakes-winning Vasilika, in the 2019 Yellow Ribbon. There are seven others entered Saturday, among them Jolie Olimpica, winner of two graded turf sprints at Santa Anita this year and Keeper Ofthe Stars, who took the Grade I Gamely in May.

Beau Recall may carry the colors of Slam Dunk – a name Cosato chose because of the many friends/clients he has with NBA or college basketball backgrounds – but a victory Saturday is nowhere near such a high percentage opportunity.

“It's a tough race,” Cosato conceded. “We're trying to get her a Grade I win, but for that at a mile, you'd almost have to run against the boys. Timing-wise, the Yellow Ribbon is right and we're hoping it works out for her again.”

The field from the rail: Summering (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1); Bodhicitta (Flavien Prat, 6-1); Tonahutu (Victor Espinoza, 15-1); Lady Prancelot (Juan Hernandez, 5-1); Harmless (Ricardo Gonzalez, 15-1); Keeper Ofthe Stars (Abel Cedillo, 7-2); Beau Recall (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1), and Jolie Olimpica (Mike Smith, 5-2).

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