The 71st running of the Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby tops a star-studded ten-race program Sunday which will also feature the appearance after the fourth race of Triple Crown champion American Pharoah.
In addition to the Del Mar Derby and the parading of American Pharoah, the card will have two other stakes, the $80,000 C.E.R.F. Stakes and the 63rd running of the Grade II $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap.
Pam and Martin Wygod’s Prospect Park, scintillating winner of the La Jolla Handicap August 9, heads a line-up of seven talented three-year-olds in the Del Mar Derby at nine furlongs over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Prospect Park, who will be piloted by Kent Desormeaux, showed a real affinity for turf racing in winning the La Jolla by four and one-quarter lengths in his grass debut.
Seeking to upset Prospect Park will be Soul Driver (Mike Smith), winner of the opening-day Oceanside Stakes; Om (Gary Stevens), Royal Albert Hall (Flavien Prat) and Papacoolpapacool (Tiago Pereira), second, third and fourth, respectively in the La Jolla, plus Win the Space (Joe Talamo) and Crittenden (Rafael Bejarano).
The Yellow Ribbon, which drew a field of a dozen older fillies and mares, appears to be a wide-open contest with several strong contenders in the mile and one-sixteenth race on grass.
Prize Exhibit (Santiago Gonzalez) won the San Clemente July 19 and then was third to Sharla Rae in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks and Queen of the Sand (James Graham) was second beaten just a head by Elektrum in the Grade II John C. Mabee to name two distaffers sure to draw support.
Others in the field are Customer Base (Drayden Van Dyke), Alexis Tangier (Victor Espinoza), Lady Pimpernel (Bejarano), The Girlinthatsong (Martin Garcia), Blingismything (Tyler Baze), Istanford (Talamo), Notte d’Oro (Prat), She’s Not Here (Smith), Stormy Lucy (Corey Nakatani) and Famous Alice (Stevens).
The six-furlong C.E.R.F. Stakes attracted a line-up of eight female sprinters – Uzziel, Amaranth, Clearly Confused, Ben’s Duchess, Velvet Mesquite, Baruta, Tribal Gal and Ramona’s Wildcat.
The 40-day 2015 Del Mar summer meet will close Monday, Labor Day, featuring the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Futurity, the seven-furlong race which sent American Pharoah on the path to his history-making Triple Crown achievement a year ago.