On paper, it looks like a quantum step up, sending a maiden race runner-up out for a second career start in a $200,000 Grade II Stakes.

 

But trainer Peter Eurton, who’ll be doing just that with Champagne Room in Saturday’s Sorrento Stakes, doesn’t look at it that way.

 

“With 2-year-olds at this time of year, it happens when you’ve got a horse that you feel has talent,” Eurton said Thursday morning. “It (Sorrento) wasn’t part of my initial plan. But the owners took a look at it, we talked it over and decided it’s a pretty logical step to take.”

 

Champagne Room, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Broken Vow, was a $310,000 purchase at the Ocala, Florida, sale in April for Eurton’s main clients, Sharon Alesia, Joe Ciaglia and other partners. Champagne Room trained at Santa Anita in the spring and early summer and made her racing debut here on July 16, finishing second in a five-furlong sprint, beaten 1 ½ lengths by Morganite.

 

Eurton’s thought after the race was to train Champagne Room up to the seven-furlong, Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on September 3 with the Chandelier Stakes and the $2 million 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 5 at Santa Anita as later targets.

 

But it was determined that given the 6 ½ furlong distance, the purse and the short field (six) for the Sorrento, the jump from maiden to graded stakes made good sense.

 

“You don’t get races at this distance very often,” said Larry Zap, bloodstock agent/advisor to Eurton and clients. “She’s a big, long-striding filly who didn’t hit her best (stride) until past the wire in her first race, so we think the added distance will be good for her. We were very happy getting the outside post (No. 6), and the Sorrento’s been a real popular race for horses going on to the Debutante.”

 

For the past four years a 1-2 finish in the Sorrento has been a harbinger of Debutante success. Executive Privilege (2012) and Sunset Glow (2014) completed the double. She’s a Tiger (2013) went from Sorrento runner-up to Debutante winner. And last year Pretty N Cool won the Sorrento then finished second in the Debutante to 2-year-old filly Eclipse Award winner Songbird.

 

In 2011, Eurton saddled Weemissfrankie to a Debutante victory, his only Grade I win at Del Mar.  

 

The field from the rail out:  Unforgivable U (Stewart Elliott, 6-1), Miss Southern Miss (Kent Desormeaux, 2-1), Rooms (Flavien Prat 10-1), Ciao Bella Rosa (Norberto Arroyo, Jr. 3-1), Auntjenn (Martin Pedroza, 3-1), and Champagne Room (Mario Gutierrez, 5-2).

 

 

Monster Bea and Moonlight Drive, the 1-2 finishers in the Oceanside, and four other starters in the traditional opening day stakes were entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade III $150,000 La Jolla Handicap.

 

The second in the three-race grass series for 3-year-olds of the summer meeting, the La Jolla is at 1 1/16 miles compared to the mile of the Oceanside. The Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby completes the series on September 4.

 

In addition to Monster Bea and Moonlight Drive, runner-up by 2 ¼ lengths, the returnees from the Oceanside are: Dressed in Hermes (4^th), Mr. Roary (8^th), Imperious One (9^th) and Ebadan (10^th).   

 

The field from the rail out: Free Rose (Joe Talamo, 12-1), Liam the Charmer (Santiago Gonzalez, 6-1), Moonlight Drive (Flavien Prat, 3-1), Dressed in Hermes (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1), Mr. Roary (Edwin Maldonado, 20-1), Lucky Bryan (Victor Espinoza, 9-2), Burger and Fries (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), Monster Bea (Gary Stevens, 5-2), Ebadan (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 12-1) and Imperious One (Jamie Theriot, 15-1).

 

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Graduation Stakes winner Green With Eddie, Milton Freewater (3^rd) and Sizzlin Square (5^th) all came out of Wednesday’s $100,000 stakes in good shape.

 

The $150,000 I’m Smokin Stakes on September 2 is a possibility for any of the three California breds, O’Neill said. Green With Eddie’s win, the third straight in the Graduation for the connections of owner J. Paul Reddam, O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez, would make him a prime candidate for the $300,000 Grade I Del Mar Futurity on September 5, closing day of the meeting.

 

Nyquist won the Futurity for the same connections in 2015 and went on to win the Kentucky Derby. Nyquist is resting here following a fourth-place finish on Sunday in the $1 million Haskell Invitational prior to resuming training for a to-be-determined next start.

 

That start won’t be the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic here on August 20.

 

“He won’t make it,” O’Neill said. “It would have been nice to have a horse in the signature race here but, unfortunately …”

 

 

A field of eight was entered Thursday morning for Sunday’s 61^st running of the $75,000 Osunitas Stakes. Post positions were scheduled to be drawn later in the day.

 

Prominent among the eight is John Sadler-trained Elektrum. The 5-year-old Irish-bred mare, owned by Hronis Racing LLC, won the Grade II John C. Mabee Stakes a year ago and has been on-the-board in three graded events since while boosting her career earnings to nearly $500,000.

 

The entrants, in alphabetical order: Elektrum (Victor Espinoza), Entrechat (Mario Gutierrez), Havanna Belle (Tyler Baze), Juno (Flavien Prat), Moon Over Paris (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., My Year Is A Day (Kent Desormeaux), Prize Exhibit (Mike Smith) and Sobradora Inc (Rafael Bejarano).

 

 

 

Jockey Flavien Prat marks his 24^th birthday today with a five-win lead over Santiago Gonzalez (16-11) and three mounts on the eight-race card. Prat’s calls are on Mystery Train 2^nd, 8-1), Longstocking (5^th, 6-1) and Dame Street (7^th, 9-2).

 

Prat finished second, nine wins behind four-time defending champion Rafael Bejarano at the 2015 summer meeting, then missed the Bing Crosby fall meet while in a full body cast after a spill in September at Los Alamitos.

 

Prat said recently that during the recovery period from injury, “I was not  worried about getting back on a horse, just worried about getting back too soon.”

 

Since returning, Prat was the closest pursuer of perennial Southern California riding champion Bejarano at Santa Anita and now has double the wins of Bejarano 14 days into a 39-day meeting.

 

A victory by Gloryzapper under  Edwin Maldonado in Wednesday’s second race enabled Phil D’Amato to edge above the logjam at the top of the trainer standings. D’Amato has seven wins, one more than Bob Baffert, Mark Glatt and John Sadler.   

 

 

Bob Baffert, likely the most recognizable man in all of racing, will be in the spotlight once more when he and his extraordinary accomplishments are saluted and celebrated Monday, August 15 at a fundraiser for the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation.

 

The event will take place at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, the resort hotel just a few miles from the racetrack.  The evening’s activities will begin at 6 p.m. and include cocktails, dinner and the award ceremony.

 

The Gregson Foundation is a nonprofit founded by the California Thoroughbred Trainers and named in honor of the late conditioner who was the initial driving force behind its creation. Its current president is former trainer Janine Sahadi and its mission is to enhance the quality of life of California’s backstretch workers and their families.

 

A special cause of the foundation and the Baffert fundraiser is to provide college scholarships to the children of members of the backstretch community.

 

Previous Gregson honorees include trainers Ron McAnally and Mel and Warren Stute, owners Ann and Jerry Moss and Mace and Samantha Siegel, Dr. Jack Robbins, Del Mar’s Joe and Barbara Harper and, last year, Hall of Fame jockeys Gary Stevens and Mike Smith.

 

Tickets for the event, which has been a sellout at all its previous presentations, are $300 per person and can be obtained by contacting Angie Carmona at (626) 447-2339, or by going to www.gregsonfoundation.com

 

 

CLOSERS – The win by Edwin Maldonado on Glory Zapper in Wednesday’s second was his first in combination with Sarah Wolfe, his agent since Sunday. Wolf, who previously represented Drayden Van Dyke ended a six-month hiatus from racing in which, among other things, she went to school in Los Angeles and travelled some. “”I’m excited and happy to be back,” Wolfe said. “I had just enough time off to realize how much I missed it.” … Other notable birthdays today in addition to aforementioned Flavien Prat: President Barack Obama, trainer Mike Puype (who saddles Eight Spokes, 2-1 in the sixth race) and former Union-Tribune Turf/Outdoor writer Ed Zieralski … Selected works from 123 on dirt and 15 on turf officially timed Thursday morning: Dirt – Enola Gray (4f, :48.00), Kentuckian (5f, :58.60), Pretty N Cool (6f, 1:11.00) and Sensitively (6f, 1:12.60); Turf – Fanticola (4f, :50.20), Quick Casablanca (4f, :52.00), Queen of the Sand (5f, 1:01.40); Majestic Heat (7f, 1:30.60) and Om (7f, 1:29.40).

  

 

 

 

(Current Through Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Inclusive)

Jockey	Mts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Flavien Prat	78	16	10	6	21%	41%	$936,080
Santiago Gonzalez	74	11	13	12	15%	49%	$538,939
Tyler Baze	77	9	12	14	12%	45%	$632,613
Kent Desormeaux	56	8	13	8	14%	52%	$571,750
Rafael Bejarano	54	8	10	10	15%	52%	$603,431
Victor Espinoza	29	8	4	4	28%	55%	$653,413
Stewart Elliott	43	7	2	1	16%	23%	$245,315
Mario Gutierrez	35	6	5	3	17%	40%	$344,537
Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	30	5	6	4	17%	50%	$219,090
Tiago Pereira	35	4	3	2	11%	26%	$179,578

(Current Through Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Inclusive)

Trainer	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Philip D'Amato	30	7	6	4	23%	57%	$597,011
Bob Baffert	27	6	6	2	22%	52%	$531,845
Mark Glatt	18	6	3	4	33%	72%	$211,075
John W. Sadler	22	6	2	4	27%	55%	$459,480
Peter Miller	37	5	4	7	14%	43%	$298,320
Richard Baltas	21	5	3	4	24%	57%	$277,321
Jerry Hollendorfer	30	4	4	2	13%	33%	$274,628
Michael Machowsky	12	4	0	1	33%	42%	$134,500
Doug F. O'Neill	47	3	7	6	6%	34%	$232,140
Brian J. Koriner	12	3	4	1	25%	67%	$150,935

 

 

(Current Through Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 41 out of 123 -- 33.33%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 28 out of 81 -- 34.57%

Winning favorites on turf -- 13 out of 42 -- 30.95%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 6 out of 14 -- 42.86%

In-the-Money favorites -- 88 out of 123 -- 71.54%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 11 out of 14 -- 78.57%

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793