Dr. Venkman © Benoit Photo
GROUP OF EIGHT PUT IN FINAL WORKS SATURDAY FOR PACIFIC CLASSIC
A busy morning on the track training for G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic nominees. Eight potential participants took to the main track and put in final works for the big race coming up next Saturday, August 31.
Trainer Bob Baffert brought out his trio of runners. Adare Manor worked six furlongs in 1:12.40.
“She went well,” Baffert said afterward. “I always said I was going to leave the door open so I nominated her to give me options. I nominate in a lot of places, it doesn’t mean I’m going to run. But if you’re nominated you can get an idea of how the races shape up, how horses are doing.
“We’ll see how they are tomorrow,” Baffert continues. “I’ll have to have a pow-wow with the clients and then decide what we’re going to do.”
Baffert also worked Muth, who went five furlongs in a bullet :58.40 and Reincarnate, who breezed five furlongs in 1:01.20.
Trainer Doug O’Neill had his pair of Pacific Classic runners on the track. Katonah worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 and Mixto went the five furlongs in 1:00.40.
“Both went great,” O’Neill commented afterwards. “Mixto hasn’t run in a while so we worked him out of the gate. He jumped great, worked super and galloped out well. I’m very happy with him. He’s coming into it good.
“Katonah is fit and ready coming back,” O’Neill continues. “Just did a maintenance work with him. Tiago (jockey Pereira) was on him and was very happy. Strong and ready to go. He just ran great in the San Diego and if he can move up a bit, he’s got a good shot. “
Dr. Venkman worked five furlongs in 1:01.80. Trainer Mark Glatt said he was happy with the work and confirmed the San Diego Handicap winner is heading to the Pacific Classic.
Express Train was also out in the morning, working five furlongs in :59.40. Trainer John Shirreffs was waiting for him to cool out before making a definite decision about running in the Classic but he said the horse is doing “very well.”
Full Serrano worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:11.40 for trainer John Sadler, who said they’ll wait until tomorrow morning and see how the horse comes out of his work before deciding whether or not to commit to running in the Classic.
Midnight Mammoth, the winner of the G3 Cougar II for trainer Craig Dollase, is expected to put in his final work tomorrow.
None Above the Law worked Friday going 5-furlongs in :59.20.
“He’s getting better and better,” trainer Jorge Periban insists. “He’s different in many ways. He’s more happy, he’s stronger and he works on his own. We never ask him. He went 59 and one and I don’t like (real fast works) but he did it by himself.”
The field of nominees is down to 11 after trainer Steve Knapp decided not to run Clooney. Meanwhile the invader, Il Miracolo, is expected to arrive at Del Mar this afternoon.
Entries for the G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic will be drawn Tuesday afternoon at the Brigantine Restaurant in Del Mar.
BERRIOS ON THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME WITH THE CHOSEN VRON
It doesn’t take a jockey very long to figure out that it’s the little things that separate the average rider from the big-money opportunities. It might be something they do during a race, it might be something they do in the morning. It might just be a small chore they do for a trainer or a horse that opens the door.
Jockey Hector I. Berrios is one of those riders who is beginning to establish himself as one of the go-to riders in the Del Mar jockey colony and it’s the little things that are helping to move him up the ladder.
On a busy morning last week, Berrios could be found at the J. Eric Kruljac barn on the backside at Del Mar holding the reins while The Chosen Vron was getting his bath. The popular horse had just completed a routine gallop with Berrios aboard as the two prepared for today’s G2 Pat O’Brien. Berrios stroked ‘Vron’s’ nose and comforted the big chestnut as the water and soap sprayed all around them.
Berrios didn’t have to do it. He could have handed off the horse and then gone and grabbed a cool drink at the racing office. But the horse and jockey have become very good friends. After all, The Chosen Vron is taking Berrios on the ride of a lifetime.
“Something very satisfying, something very special,” Berrios says about riding The Chosen Vron. “He’s a horse that makes you look good, helps you very much during the race. He’s a horse with plenty of ability. I just sit on him and when we get into the stretch, he knows it’s time to run and we both connect.”
Berrios first started riding The Chosen Vron in 2022. Ironically, that year’s edition of the Pat O’Brien was their first race together.
“The first time we connected with The Chosen Vron I got a phone call from Eric Kruljac,” Berrios’ agent, Michael Burns recalls. “I was with Hector visiting former jockey Fernando Toro at his home. It was entry day and Kruljac asked me if we were open in the Pat O’Brien. We were and we accepted the call.”
That year The Chosen Vron ran fifth in the Pat O’Brien. But Kruljac was impressed with the young rider from Chile and Berrios has ridden ‘Vron’ ever since. Sixteen races later and the pair have only lost once, in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint. After their first race together, The Chosen Vron and Berrios strung together nine straight wins before the Breeders’ Cup loss. Since the setback at Santa Anita last November, the ‘Vron’ and Berrios have won another six straight races.
“I think with more time he’s become more mature,” Berrios states, “and more professional.”
This year’s Pat O’Brien is deep. Aside from The Chosen Vron, there’s the Saudi Cup winner Senor Buscador, G2 Triple Bend winner Happy Jack, G3 Palos Verdes winner Big City Lights and stakes winner Raging Torrent.
A victory today would give Berrios his fifth stakes win of the summer meet at Del Mar. He’s won the G2 San Clemente and the G1 Del Mar Oaks with Iscreamuscream, The Chosen Vron’s score in the G1 Bing Crosby and last week’s victory on Moment’s Pleasure in the Solana Beach. He currently sits fourth in the jockey standings with 15 wins.
His two stakes wins last weekend earned Berrios ‘Jockey of the Week’ honors from the Jockey Guild.
“When there’s good dialogue with the agent, good things happen,” Berrios notes. “It’s good to be recognized. It is good to have a good week of triumphs and receiving this recognition lifts you up. Feels really nice.”
SWEET AZTECA WEARS THE TARGET IN G3 RANCHO BERNARDO SUNDAY
Some very talented fillies and mares have contested the G3 Rancho Bernardo in the past. The list includes Great Lady M, Desert Stormer, Track Gal, who won it three years in a row, Kalookan Queen, Reneesgotzip, Judy the Beauty, Edgeway and last year’s winner Eda. This year, Sweet Azteca is looking to add her name to the list.
The heavy 2-5 favorite on the morning line is leaving little to ponder for handicappers. She comes into the race off of an impressive win in the G2 Great Lady M at Los Alamitos, winning by five lengths, setting a track record in the process. It followed her victory over Adare Manor in the G1 Beholder in March and before that, a 12-length win in an entry-level allowance at Santa Anita in February. Her only career loss out of five starts came in the G3 Las Flores at the beginning of the year, in her first race after an eight month layoff.
“We’re looking to get her a race over the track for the Breeders’ Cup,” trainer Michael McCarthy says. “She worked 59 and three the other day. I thought it was very good. More or less of what we’ve been seeing all along. Seems like she’s maintaining her form.”
Sweet Azteca is owned and was bred by Pamela C. Ziebarth, who has placed horses with McCarthy in the past. The 4-year-old daughter of Sharp Azteca got her start in Kentucky where she won at first asking. After a short layoff they decided to bring her out west.
“She gave us glimpses last year that she had some ability,” McCarthy states. “You never know if they’re going to be this good but she was definitely showing us some signs early on.”
Six rivals will line up against Sweet Azteca including the only horse to have ever beaten her. Chismosa won the Las Flores in January.
“She’s looking super right now,” trainer Rafael DeLeon says of Chismosa. “Six to six and a half furlongs on the dirt is the best for her. It’s going to be a very fast race.”
Which may bode well for Chismosa, who is a closer. She got beat by 15 ½ lengths by Sweet Azteca last out in the Great Lady M but with an excuse.
“I was angry with Tiago (Pereira) because he rode my horse wrong,” DeLeon contends. “He pushed the filly right away and she got tired. She races and works the same way. If you let another horse go she’ll come and get it. You look at the last race at Santa Anita and she came from dead behind.”
Chismosa got up in the final strides to win the $100,000 Desert Stormer that day. She’s also won at Del Mar, taking the Generous Portion as a 2-year-old. The Cal-bred daughter of Clubhouse Ride has compiled over half a million dollars in earnings, the most in the field.
Anywho has shown flashes of brilliance, including an eight-length victory in an entry level allowance race at Churchill Downs to start her 4-year-old campaign.
“She’s doing good,” trainer John Sadler says. “She won a nice race this year and then was fourth in a stake. Last time at Los Al she didn’t run good. I think she didn’t like Los Alamitos and the inside draw but she’s trained well here and drawn outside which is her favorite draw. Obviously, we’re up against a 2-5 shot but if I could be second or third I’d be thrilled.”
Anywho is a daughter of Bolt d’Oro.
“I know she’s a quality filly,“ Sadler contends. “Her performance has been a little up and down but she’s in good shape for Sunday.”
Vitalera is a Chilean-bred who has run in mostly allowance company since coming up from South America last year. Trainer Marcelo Polanco feels this is a good spot to try her in a stakes.
“It’s not a very tough race except for Sweet Azteca,” Polanco says,”Vitalera is improving day-by-day. She’s always in the money and can handle dirt or grass so this is the time to take a chance.”
The 53rd running of the G3 Rancho Bernardo will go off as race eight on the nine-race Sunday card. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Tom’s Regret (Kyle Frey, 10-1); Chismosa (Tiago Pereira, 5-1); Ascendancy (Reylu Gutierrez, 20-1); Vitalera (Tyler Baze, 30-1); Sweet Azteca (Flavien Prat, 2/5); Irish Wahine (Ricky Gonzalez, 30-1), and Anywho (Juan Hernandez, 6-1).
COOLING OUT: Trainer Peter Miller scored a hat trick on Friday. He won the fourth race with Kale’s Angel, the sixth with Oscar Joy and the eighth with She’s a Joker. Miller now has 11 victories, one behind a logjam of four trainers atop the standings with 12…Here’s your chance to meet this year’s SDSU Men’s Basketball team. Sunday, the players and coaches will be signing autographs at 1 p.m. at Paddock East…Notable works on Saturday: Vodka With a Twist (4f, :46.40); Grand Slam Smile (5f, 1:00.20); Imagination (5f, :58.40); Nooni 5f, 1:00.60); Nothing Like You (5f, 1:01.20) and Ruby Nell (:59.60)