Caribou Club © Benoit Photo
Glen Hill Farm’s Caribou Club, benefitting from a trouble-free trip under the expert guidance of jockey Joe Talamo, asserted himself in the stretch to win the Grade II $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap in decisive fashion Saturday.
Able to save ground for most of the mile and one-sixteenth journey over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course, Caribou Club surged into contention from between horses entering the stretch and went on to score by a length and one-quarter in 1:41.38 for the distance.
Second was the longest shot in the field of a dozen, 70-1 Secretary At War and jockey Ruben Fuentes, a head in front of the rapidly-closing 8-5 favorite, Synchrony. Fourth was Big Score.
Caribou Club, a four-year-old gelded son of City Zip trained by Tom Proctor, went to the gate at 7-1 and returned $16.20, $10.20 and $4.80 after his sixth win in 16 starts. First money of $120,000 increased his earnings to $444,744. Secretary At War paid $47.40 and $12.60, while Synchrony returned $3 to show.
Glen Hill Farm and Proctor won Friday’s $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup with Chicago Style who was piloted by Drayden Van Dyke.
In Saturday’s companion feature, the Grade III $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for two-year-old fillies, 11-1 longshot Elsa provided jockey Joe Bravo with his second straight success in the mile and one-sixteenth grass contest, sweeping to the lead from the outside for a convincing two and one-quarter length triumph. Bravo won the race a year ago aboard Daddy Is a Legend.
Second by a head was Courteous, a 25-1 outsider under Talamo, with 2-1 favored Pivottina a fast-closing third, a length and one-half in front of Velvet Queen in the field of a dozen fillies. Withdrawn was Posh Holly.
Elsa, a daughter of Animal Kingdom owned and bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, L.L.C., and trained by Michael Stidham, was making her West Coast debut after three races in the East. Her winning time over firm turf was 1:35.68. She returned $24.80, $11.20 and $7 while earning $60,000 with her second win.
Runner-up Courteous paid $22.40 and $12.20, while Pivottina returned $3.20 to show.
Peter Miller, defending training champion at Del Mar’s fall racing season, won three races early in the program, sweeping the second through fourth races with Gray Magician, Acker and Damiano, respectively. He capped his afternoon in the ninth race and final race as Suspicious Spouse scored under Flavien Prat to give him a rare training quadruple. He now has eleven winners at the fall meet.
There were two perfect tickets in Saturday’s Pick Six and they each paid $34,018. The Single Ticket Jackpot carryover is $136,446 into Sunday’s program which begins at 12:30 p.m.
JOE TALAMO (Caribou Club, winner) – “Good trip all the way. He was a lot closer up this time; they weren’t running any :42 and 3 like last time (down the hill at Santa Anita). When I asked him, he had a great turn of foot. I used a saddle Gary Stevens gave me today. When he retired, he gave me one of his saddles, and one to Mike Smith and one to Drayden Van Dyke. Now I know why he won all those stakes races.”
RUBEN FUENTES (Secretary At War, second) – “He went really well. In a perfect spot; saving ground and just running game all the way. He hung in there. He ran huge.”
JOE BRAVO (Synchrony, third) – “It’s turf racing – what are you going to do (referring to his overland trip). You love it and you hate it at the same time.”
TOM PROCTOR (Caribou Club, winner) – “I hot-walked this horse’s seventh (generations removed) dam for my dad and trained from about the fifth dam on. It’s nice to win one. This is a good horse, I think he’ll run well down the hill (at Santa Anita).”
Proctor passed his father, Willard, for stakes wins at Del Mar on Friday when Chicago Style took the Hollywood Turf Cup for No. 18 for Tom. “I told him I would,” Proctor said. Caribou Club was No. 19.
FRACTIONS: :23.75 :47.81 1:12.37 1:35.53 1:41.38
The stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Talamo, but his first in the Seabiscuit. He now has 53 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the second of the meet for trainer Proctor and his first in the Seabiscuit. He now has 19 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The winning owner is the Glen Hill Farm of Craig Bernick of Lexington, KY.