It’s already been quite a fall for the track known for the slogan “Where the Turf Meets the Surf.” Del Mar is still basking in the afterglow of hosting a successful Breeders’ Cup. But now the days at the resort track are down to a precious few as the season concludes Sunday.
Closing weekend at Del Mar offers exciting graded stakes action
Before we get there, the action on the lawn continues fast and furious. The Saturday card features three grass stakes topped by the $300,000 Hollywood Derby (G1) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.
The Hollywood Derby poses a challenge to the bettor with a field of 13 having varying styles.
There are stout closers like Stay Hot and Carson’s Run. Ample speed should be supplied by Donegal Momentum and Chatalas, a filly taking on the boys.
After several passes over the field, the handicapping divining rod points squarely at the well-named Formidable Man for trainer Mike McCarthy.
Two important statistics jump out immediately. Formidable Man is 3-for-3 at Del Mar including the Del Mar Derby (G2) on Sept. 1. Secondly, he is 2-for-3 at this distance.
The math adds up. He’s operating from his home base, another advantage over horses like Carson’s Run and Donegal Momentum who are shipping in from New York.
Luck will play a role, as it always does. It is even more a factor in a field this bulky. Formidable Man can rally, but his best game is a stalking trip. That was the journey jockey Umberto Rispoli carved out in the Del Mar Derby, sitting fourth in the early stages for charging home in deep stretch for a half-length victory.
The Del Mar Derby was his second straight stakes victory here following the Oceanside where he rallied from ninth to score the win. That versatility is helpful if the anticipated script gets tossed.
Formidable Man breaks from post 6, which should put him right in the mix from the start.
In contrast, Stay Hot landed the rail … probably the worst starting spot for a deep closer. He faces a ton of traffic when trying to uncork his rally. He notched a pair of seconds in his last two, both Grade 2 stakes: the Del Mar Derby where Formidable Man was able to fend off the late run, and in the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita.
The two New York invaders merit consideration. Carson’s Run has already captured a pair of Derbys this year back home: the Saratoga (G1) and the Jockey Club (G3) at Aqueduct.
Donegal Momentum comes here on a two-race win streak: an allowance race at Saratoga and the Gio Ponte at the Big A.
Now push comes to shove, and it’s time to make a selection. We’re not going to climb far out on a limb. We’ll stick with the hometown hero.
Older grass runners have their day as well in the Seabiscuit Handicap (G2) at 1 1/16 miles.
Handicaps, stakes races where the track’s racing secretary assigns weights to each runner based on perceived ability, are increasingly rare. Most stakes weight assignments are now determined by allowance conditions, or else every horse carries the same weight. An example of the latter: the Hollywood Derby where everyone totes 122 pounds except the two fillies Chatalas and Tirupati who get a three-pound break at 119.
Here we have a handicap with a relatively small weight spread from 123 down to 118 pounds.
Almendares got the 123-pound assignment and deservedly so. He rallied to finish second in the Del Mar Mile (G2) and the City of Hope Mile (G2) in his last two outings. His running style suggests the extra sixteenth of a mile here will work to his advantage.
The Jimmy Durante for 2-year-old fillies completes the trio of turf-stakes offerings.
When you say baby races in California, you inevitably say “Bob Baffert.”
He sends out Casalu, the most experienced stakes runner in the field. She is already graded-stakes placed with a second in Santa Anita’s Surfer Girl (G3) and arrives here by a somewhat circuitous route. Baffert sprinted her on the dirt most recently, a fourth-place effort in the Anoakia Stakes.
Now the master switches her back to the turf, stretches the distance and removes the blinkers. Never doubt The Bob.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
