Nooni © Benoit Photo
The 74th edition of the Grade I FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutant will be up for grabs Saturday, headlining an 11-race card that features a trio of stakes on the next-to-last day of summer sport at the seaside oval known as Del Mar.
Not surprisingly, trainer Bob Baffert has the favorite for the $300,000 seven-panel headliner that annually crowns the summer meet’s juvenile filly champ. Hall of Famer Baffert, you see, has already won the Deb on 10 occasions and has the morning-line, odds-on favorite in his latest lass – Zedan Racing Stables’ Nooni – at 4/5 as she tackles six rivals in the dash.
The Debutante has some serious credentials when it comes to shining a first light on potential champions. Nine winners of the race have gone on to be voted an Eclipse Award as 2-year-old filly champion later in the year.
Two others in the lineup that drew respect on the morning line are Medallion Racing, Aldabbagh or Strauss’ Vodka With a Twist at 7/2 and Baoma Corp’s Tenma (also trained by Baffert) at 4-1.
The second-billed stakes on the program is the 67th running of the John C. Mabee Stakes, a nine-furlong turf test the carries a $250,000 purse and Grade II status. It is headed by a pair of terrific distaffers – the eastern invader Didia, who races for Merriebelle Stables or Resolute Racing, and the local star Anisette, who carries the silks of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
The former, a 6-year-old Argentinian-bred who has a bankroll that has gone past the $1.5-million mark, has been running in Grade I company in New York, including a tally in the New York Stakes at Saratoga on June 7. The latter, a British-bred 4-year-old, is riding a three-race win streak that includes a pair of Grade Is in the west and most recently a tally in the Grade II Yellow Ribbon at Del Mar on August 10. Should Anisette win the Mabee, she’d go past the $1-million mark in earnings, too.
Hector I. Berrios has gotten the call on Didia and they’ve been hung the 4/5 favorite in the turfer, while Anisette gets her usual partner in Umberto Rispoli and a 7/5 rating in the line. Seven horses in all are set for the testing.
The final black-type affair on the Saturday card is the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, which runs on the lawn, of course, at a mile and has drawn 12 likely starters. This will be the 13th running of the 2-year-old stakes and its likely favorite is Madaket Stables and Little Red Feather Racing’s Thought Process, who’ll have Berrios in the irons and 9/5 on the tote board in front on the run.
The Del Mar Debutante goes at Race 4, the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf will be Race 5 and the John C. Mabee is Race 9.
First post for the penultimate day of season No. 85 at the shore oval is 1:30 p.m.