Cistron

EIGHT ENTERED IN BING CROSBY, FIRST GRADE I OF THE MEETING

A field of eight was entered Wednesday morning in Saturday’s $300,000 Bing Crosby, the first of two Grade I stakes on the weekend and six overall at Del Mar during the summer meeting.

The six-furlong main track event, which often determines the sprint champion of the meeting and is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, attracted Air Strike and Cistron, the 1-2 finishers from the Grade II Triple Bend at Santa Anita in May, and five runners shipping in from the Midwest or East.

Cistron, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred owned by Hronis Racing, won the 6 ½-furlong Grade II Kona Gold at Santa Anita by 5 ½ lengths in April and was tagged near the wire by Air Strike in the Grade II Triple Bend there on May 25.

The last two starts, over the main track, were a change in surface from what the son of The Factor had experienced for most of his career.

“He’s kinda found new life on the dirt,” trainer John Sadler said. “He was running good race on grass and we switched him to the dirt and he won easily. He’s a pretty versatile horse who has really found his form the last couple starts, so we’ll keep him sprinting on the dirt.

‘There’s good spacing between his races and he has trained up for this one just super.”

The field from the rail: Calexman (Geovanni Franco), Desert Law (Rafael Bejarano), Cistron (Victor Espinoza), Line Judge (Drayden Van Dyke), Air Strike (Norberto Arroyo, Jr.), Chief Cicatriz (Ruben Fuentes), Recruiting Ready (Flavien Prat) and Jalen Journey (Mike Smith).

OH CANADA! TRIPLE CROWN SECOND LEG TRY DIDN’T WORK FOR PRAT

“He got to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side and was very impressed.”

That, reported by agent Derek Lawson, was unfortunately the highlight of jockey Flavien Prat’s trip to the Fort Erie track near Toronto to ride One Bad Boy in the Prince of Wales Stakes seeking to add the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown to the Queen’s Plate win notched in June.

One Bad Boy, trained by Del Mar-based Richard Baltas, set the pace into the stretch of the 1 3/16-mile dirt run, but was passed by Tone Broke and Avie’s Flatter to finish third and end hopes of becoming the first Canadian Triple Crown winner since 2003.

The silver lining for Prat is that whereas a win would have obligated him to ride in the third leg on August 17, he’s now free to consider mounts on Pacific Classic Day here at Del Mar.

Meanwhile, One Bad Boy could be headed to Baltas’ barn here and might be targeted for a race near the end of the meeting.

THE HUNTED WILL BE JUST THAT AS CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ FAVORITE

Little Red Feather Racing and Madeline Auerbach’s The Hunted was tabbed the 7-2 morning line favorite in a field of 11 for Friday’s featured $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes for older California-bred or-sired horses. The 1 1/16-mile turf test goes as the seventh on an eight-race Four O’Clock Friday program.

A 4-year-old son of Unusual Heat, The Hunted has hit the board in six of his last seven starts and prevailed in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita in April. He has been freshened since a runner-up allowance-level effort in May.

Among the 10 rivals is What a View, who’ll make his debut for trainer Phil D’Amato. An 8-year-old gelded son of Vronsky, What a View is a multiple stakes winner who accumulated $903,706 in earnings under trainer Kenny Black, now an assistant to D’Amato based at San Luis Rey Downs. What a View is unraced since the Grade II Del Mar Mile in August of last year.

“He’s training really good but it will be a learning experience for me to see how he runs fresh,” D’Amato said Wednesday morning.

The field from the rail: Tule Fog (Rafael Bejarano, 12-1), What a View (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 6-1), Grecian Fire (Mike Smith, 5-1), Ashleyluvssugar (Brice Blanc, 9-2), The Street Fighter (Edwin Maldonado, 15-1), The Hunted (Tiago Pereira, 7-2), Hardboot (Mario Gutierrez, 20-1), Brandothebartender (Joe Talamo, 10-1), Acclimate (Martin Garcia, 5-1), Ultimate Bango (Ruben Fuentes, 10-1) and Smokey Image (Flavien Prat, 15-1).

ONE GOOD WEEK IN THE BOOKS, RACING OFFICE SOLDIERS ON

By unofficial count, the first week totals here were were 43 races with a total of  342 runners for an average field size of 7.95. 

“Generally what I expected,” Racing Secretary David Jerkens said Wednesday morning.

“The industry is relying on us to run five days a week and we’re doing our best to do that. I’m encouraged by the entries on Thursday and Friday, but the numbers are what they are, and we’re dealing with a 10 percent reduction in the horse population going into this meet.

“Actually it could have been a lot worse and we’re grateful and thankful for the horsemen that are participating. We’re taking it day by day.”

Before scratches, there were 194 entries for 22 races for the first three days of Week II, an average of 8.8 per race.

CLOSERS – Omaha Beach worked three furlongs in :36.00 for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella on Tuesday morning. It was the first workout since the  Arkansas Derby winner was scratched as the favorite days before the Kentucky Derby due to an entrapped epiglottis. “The work went well, he scoped clean afterward and we’re glad to have him back,” Mandella said Wednesday morning … Remember the “Beholder Pen,” the facility outside the Mandella barn where the champion mare, winner of the 2015 Pacific Classic would sun following workouts? It’s been turned over to Omaha Beach … Selected works from 297 officially timed over the last three days: Monday – Secret Spice (4f, :48.80), Tuesday – Omaha Beach (3f, :36.60), Immediate Impact (4f, :47.40), Savagery (4f, :50.40), Paradise Woods (5f, 1:00.00), McKinzie (6f, 1:11.80); Wednesday – Nolde (4f, :50.20), Fahan Mura (5f, 1:01.60) …Trainer John Sadler said that San Diego Handicap winner Catalina Cruiser and Eddie Read beaten favorite Catapult both came out of their races in good shape and that decisions regarding next starts could be made by the end of the week. Phil D’Amato said that Eddie Read winner Bowies Hero also came out of the race well and will target the Grade II $200,000 Del Mar Mile on August 18 … A field of five was entered for  Saturday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes. From the rail: Lieutenant Dan (Drayden Van Dyke), Cruel Intention (Joe Talamo), Prodigal Son (Mario Gutierrez), Oliver (Martin Garcia) and Posterize (Flavien Prat).

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Sunday, July 21, 2019 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Sunday, July 21, 2019 Inclusive)