Miss Temple City © Zoe Metz for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

 

Del Mar’s third fall Bing Crosby Thoroughbred racing season concludes Sunday, featuring a star-studded field of older fillies and mares in the Grade I $300,000 Matriarch Stakes at one mile over the infield Jimmy Durante grass course.

 

Post-time for the first of nine races will be 12:30 p.m.

 

A dozen distaff runners entered the Matriarch, including five from the East Coast, headed by the morning line favorite, Miss Temple City, to be ridden by Edgar Prado for trainer H. Graham Motion. Miss Temple City comes into the Matriarch from a creditable fifth to males in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. Previously, she won the Grade I Shadwell Turf Mile over males at Keeneland.

 

Also in from the East are the classy Zindaya, winner of the Goldikova Stakes most recently; Mexican Gold and Roca Rojo, stablemates of Zindaya from the barn of America’s leading trainer of 2016, Chad Brown, and the ultra-consistent Time and Motion. In to ride the above-mentioned quartet will be four of the leading riders in the country – Javier Castellano on Zindaya, Irad Ortiz, Jr., on Mexican Gold; Florent Geroux on Roca Rojo, and John Velazquez astride Time and Motion.

 

Representing the West Coast contingent, all with stakes credentials, will be Tiz a Kiss,  Kent Desormeaux, beaten only a half-length in the Goldikova; Stays in Vegas, Drayden Van Dyke; Kitcat, Tiago Pereira, winner of multiple stakes in Chile; Sobradora Inc, Martin Garcia; Nancy from Nairobi, Tyler Baze; Decked Out, Victor Espinoza, and Prize Exhibit, Mike Smith.