Victor Espinoza © Del Mar Photo

ESPINOZA, SADLER NEAR MILESTONES WITH TRANQUILITY LAKE WIN

The victory with Lady Suebee in Friday’s Tranquility Lake Stakes was stakes win No. 99 at Del Mar for Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza and No. 7 this season for trainer John Sadler.

His second stakes victory of the meeting moved Espinoza to within one of tying fellow Hall of Famer Gary Stevens for third on the track’s all-time list behind Chris McCarron (134) and Corey Nakatani (108).

No. 99 didn’t involve a lot of strategy for the 47-year-old Espinoza. He took the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of First Defence straight to a clear lead, stretched it to six lengths in the stretch and cruised home in front by 5 ½.

His possibilities for No. 100 start with Seven Trumpets  (15-1) in Saturday’s Grade II $200,000 Pat O’Brien and, failing that, advance to Tap Back for Jeff Bonde in next Friday’s $100,000 I’m Smokin, Inspiressa for Sadler in the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Saturday, August 31 or Nolde for John Shirreffs in the Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby on Sunday, September 1.

“Hopefully, we get it sooner rather than later,” Brian Beach, Espinoza’s agent, said Saturday morning. It was the 26^th stakes with a mount booked by Beach, who has been Espinoza’s agent since 2013. 

Espinoza’s first stakes victory at Del Mar came in a division of the Oceanside on opening day of the 2000 meeting aboard Stormy Jack. Espinoza recorded at least two a year from 2000-2017 then had the streak end with the serious injury early in last year’s meeting that sidelined him for seven months.

The seventh stakes win of the meeting for Sadler was No. 74 in his career of more than three decades at Del Mar. It tied Sadler with legendary trainer Charlie Whittingham for No. 3 on the stakes-wins list behind Bob Baffert (128) and Ron McAnally (77).

Another sensational stakes season for Sadler has him one away from tying his personal best of eight in a year established in 2008 and matched last summer. In 2008  Black Mamba’s score in the John C. Mabee highlighted a season of eight different stakes winners. In 2018 Catapult and Catalina Cruiser contributed two wins each and Accelerate presented Sadler with his first TVG Pacific Classic victory.

Catalina Cruiser will be sent out aiming to complete a San Diego Handicap/Pat O’Brien double again in Saturday’s feature.

A TEST VS. SEASONED RIVALS FOR KING JACK IN SHARED BELIEF

King Jack puts his unbeaten (2-for-2) record on the line against five rivals, each with more than triple his racing experience, in Sunday’s featured $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile on the main track.

A Kentucky-bred son of Jimmy Creed owned by Michael C. Stinson, King Jack made his racing debut on June 1 at Santa Anita with a 3 1/4-length win at six furlongs and followed it up with a wire-to-wire 1 ¼-length win at seven furlongs here on July 17.

Before King Jack got his first start, the rest of the field was racking them up, an average of 7.6 each. Before June 1, Improbable, the Shared Belief favorite, had been through the crucible of the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

“He’s a big horse and was given time to grow into himself,” trainer Dan Ward said of King Jack, a $100,000 purchase at the Keeneland September sale of 2017.

King Jack’s victory on the opening day of the summer meeting was a career first for Ward, who took over briefly for Jerry Hollendorfer.

Hollendorfer is again the trainer of record and will saddle the colt Sunday.

The field from the rail: Street Class (Ruben Fuentes, 20-1), Seven Scents (Jorge Velez, 20-1), King Jack (Mike Smith, 8-5), Stubbins (Doug O’Neill, 10-1), Lieutenant Dan (Abel Cedillo, 4-1) and Improbable (Drayden Van Dyke, 1-1).

AS FUTURITY, DEBUTANTE NEAR, PREPARATIONS GET SERIOUS

With the two remaining Grade I events of the meeting approaching – the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on August 31 and $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on September 2 – final works and decisions for prospects are in the offing.

Saturday morning, trainers Doug O’Neill and Peter Eurton sent 2-year-old fillies Comical and Powerfulattraction through their final major exercises for the Debutante.

Comical, with Flavien Prat aboard, officially went five furlongs in 1:00.80, which was a tick faster than O’Neill had for her. “I had her galloping out in 1:14 and thought it went really well,” O’Neill said.

With regular jockey Joe Talamo on assignment at Saratoga, Eurton said he “called in a favor” and had Martin Garcia work Powerfulattraction. Del Mar clockers had her covering a half-mile in :49.40.

Trainer John Sadler said Inspiressa, who worked three furlongs in :35.00 on Tuesday, is scheduled for a final, five-furlong work for the Debutante on Monday with assistant trainer Juan Leyva to ride.

Trainer Simon Callaghan said that Schrodinger will miss the Futurity due to a development unrelated to the recent viral problems and the filly Shedaresthedevil is more likely for the $100,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf on September 2 than the Debutante. The same could also be said for O’Neill’s Lazy Daisy, who worked five furlongs Saturday morning in 1:00.80.

Trainer Richard Baltas said that recent winner Ginobili would be galloped up to the Futurity and was “80-20” likely to go in that race.

TRAINER TITLE CHASE COULD BE GOOD TO THE LAST RACE

Defending champion Peter Miller and five-time titlist Doug O’Neill each notched one win Friday in a training champion race that looks destined to go down to the last day of the meeting.

O’Neill saddled Strongconstitution ($7.20) to win the Friday nightcap, his 18^th victory of the season. O’Neill has a two-win edge over Richard Baltas and three over Miller, who scored Friday with Strike That ($5.60) in the first race.

Although winless Friday, Flavien Prat holds a comfortable 32-22 win margin over defending champion Drayden Van Dyke in the jockeys’ standings. Van Dyke picked up one in the win column with First Star ($4.00) in the fourth race for trainer Ron Ellis.

CLOSERS --  Selected works from 129 officially timed Saturday morning: Anonymity (3f, :35.20), Cistron (4f, :49.40), Ollie’s Candy (4f, :50.20), Powerfulattracton (4f, :49.40), Tribalist (4f, :48.40), Acai (5f, 1:03.00), Ahimsa (5f, 1:00.40), Comical (5f, 1:00.80), Lazy Daisy (5f, 1:00.80), Nolde (1:00.40).

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Friday, August 23, 2019 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Friday, August 23, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Friday, August 23, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 85 out of 225 -- 37.78%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 53 out of 133 -- 39.85%

Winning favorites on turf -- 32 out of 92 -- 34.78%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 21 out of 44 -- 47.73%

In-the-Money favorites -- 157 out of 225 -- 69.78%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 37 out of 44 -- 84.09%