Saturday’s $150,000 Best Pal Stakes (G3), contested for the 56th time, is a 6-furlong dirt sprint for 2-year-olds at Del Mar and serves as a key local prep for the Del Mar Futurity (G1) later in the meet.
Originally run as the Balboa Stakes, it was renamed in 1995 to honor Best Pal, the Hall of Fame California-bred gelding who won the 1990 Balboa and later the Del Mar Futurity.
Best Pal earned over $5.6 million, swept California’s major 1 ¼-mile handicaps, including the inaugural Pacific Classic (G1) and was a three-time California Horse of the Year.
Notable past winners include Breeders’ Cup winners/champions/classic winners Timber Country (1994); Lookin At Lucky (2009) and Nyquist (2015).
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has dominated with 12 wins (including the last four). The race has been at 6 furlongs in recent years and is typically a speed-favoring test that identifies early division leaders.
The 2026 field of six includes several impressive debut winners and one with stakes experience. He Is No Lie (2-1) is one of two from Doug O’Neill, who trained Nyquist to a win here before capturing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1). He Is No Lie has two career starts, so he gets the slight edge over his stablemate Phone Booth (12-1).
The highly regarded Early Voting colt, out of the stakes-placed Hold Me Back mare Truth in the Lies, debuted with an eight-length romp at Santa Anita on May 15 over 4 ½ furlongs in a sharp 51.88 under wraps. He followed that effort with a strong second in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs after a front-running effort only to give way late. Expect him to head right to the lead from post two under Emisael Jaramillo and control or press the early pace.
Kennyten (9-5), a $140,000 OBS March sale purchase, is a Drain the Clock colt who dominated by 7 ½ lengths in his debut win at Santa Anita on June 12 for trainer Vladimir Cerin, covering 5 furlongs in a respectable 56.99. He broke sharply, secured the lead, and drew off under a hand ride. He earned a very high Beyer speed figure of 92, which is reportedly the top for a 2-year-old early in the season, and has been training sharply for his first stakes. He’ll likely apply some early pressure to the frontrunners from the outside while sitting just off the pace under Ricardo Gonzalez.
Hughes (3-1) is a $675,000 Into Mischief colt out of the graded-stakes-placed Union Rags mare K P Dreamin, who broke her maiden over this track at this distance in 2019. The Baffert trainee is a member of the powerhouse partnership of F Racing, Starlight, Madaket, Stonestreet, and others, and debuted with a six-length romp at Los Alamitos on June 21, clocking 5 furlongs in 57.22. He showed natural early speed that day, dueled through a sharp 21.81 opening quarter and drew off under mild urging. He should be prominent from the start under Juan Hernandez.
Icanthelpmyself (8-1) is a Mo Town colt out of the Quality Road mare Road Rager, owned and bred by Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable. He makes his debut here for trainer Brian Koriner off a series of steady works, including a few eye-opening ones, and the son of Mo Town may offer some value. Armando Ayuso will ride.
Peter Miller sends out You Want Some (8-1), who is another who will debut here off a bunch of decent works both at San Luis Rey Downs and over this main track. It’s hard to say where he’ll find his best stride under Kazushi Kimura, but typically first timers show early speed.
Phone Booth is O’Neill’s other runner, who drew the rail, and is a California-bred son of Pavel out of Mandy’s Grace (Bellamy Road), owned and bred by Reddam Racing. Coming off his nice debut win by a length over this track two weeks ago, he’s likely to show early speed or a stalking style right off the pace as he did last time. He must break alertly under jockey Umberto Rispoli to avoid getting left back, so it’s a good bet he’ll be forwardly placed. It’s hard to say if he belongs here, so watch the tote board.
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