River Boyne © Benoit Photo
Irish-bred River Boyne, who has emerged as the top three-year-old in the West competing on grass after winning five of his last six starts, including Del Mar’s La Jolla Handicap, is favored over eleven fellow sophomores Sunday in the Grade II 250,000 Del Mar Derby at a mile and one-eighth over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
The ten-race program beginning at 2 p.m. also includes the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf for two-year-olds at one mile on the grass.
Flavien Prat again has the call from trainer Jeff Mullins aboard River Boyne, owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. He comes into Sunday’s race fresh from a convincing triumph in the La Jolla ‘Cap August 5. The colt’s only loss in his last half-dozen outings came in the American Turf over a yielding surface at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, May 5. In addition to the La Jolla, his stakes successes include the Pasadena and Rainbow.
Among those lining up versus River Boyne will be Restrainedvengence (Evin Roman), victor in the opening-day Oceanside Stakes; Arawak (Rafael Bejarano), second in the La Jolla; Pubilius Syrus (Kent Desormeaux), winner of the Eddie Logan and Baffle last winter at Santa Anita; Ride a Comet (Drayden Van Dyke), an East Coast invader trained by Mark Casse; Take the One O One (Joe Talamo), a two-time stakes winner this summer, and the lone filly in the field, Animosity (Tyler Conner), unplaced after setting the pace in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks.
Completing the field are Epical (Tyler Baze), Desert Stone (Tyler Gaffalione), Andesh (Geovanni Franco), Kazan (Martin Garcia) and Majestic Eagle (Gary Stevens).
Eleven two-year-olds will go to the gate in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf, carded as the sixth race. They are: Hartel (Prat), Takeo Squared (Bejarano), Honcho (Baze), Rijeka (Mario Gutierrez), Forloveofcountry (Roman), Seeking Refuge Franco), Owning (Van Dyke), King of Speed (Stevens), Knight’s Cross ( Desormeaux), Go Daddy (Tiago Pereira ) and Street Image (Talamo).
The 2018 Del Mar summer season closes Monday, Labor Day, featuring the Grade I Del Mar Futurity.