Restrainedvengence © Benoit Photo

DAY 14

BRINKERHOFF PLAYS GIANT-SLAYER ROLE AGAIN IN SUNDAY’S LA JOLLA

Trainer Val Brinkerhoff saddled Restrainedvengence to a $24.80 upset in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes on opening day of the meeting and declared it a victory for the smaller operations in a sport increasingly dominated by big ones.

“When you can beat the people we have with the little bit of resources we have, it’s awesome,” the St. George, Utah-based, 59-year-old trainer said. “We can’t do it very often, but every once in a while we get a horse that comes along who can do it.”

Brinkerhoff aims to do it again when he saddles Restrainedvengence in the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap Sunday. The second leg of the turf series for three-year-olds that began with the one-mile Oceanside, the Grade III La Jolla is one-sixteenth of a mile longer and attracted a field of six, eight fewer than the Oceanside.

“I really wasn’t going to run him (in the La Jolla),” Brinkerhoff said Saturday morning. “I was going to give him four days off, but after two days he felt so good and was so full of himself that I decided to go.

“I haven’t had to work him (in the 18 days since the Oceanside). He’s a high-energy horse and he’s ready to go. It’s a short field and I expect he’ll be tough in there.”

Brinkerhoff, a former jockey who is in the irons for routine works for his horses, has had Restrainedvengence jog or gallop to maintain fitness since the Oceanside. A Kentucky-bred son of Hold Me Back, Restrainedvengence was a $67,000 purchase at the Keeneland sale in September of 2016. The Oceanside was the third win in eight starts and boosted the colt’s earnings to $154,290 for Brinkerhoff and his partner Bob Grayson.

“I knew if we ever got this horse to settle from off the pace we’d have something because he’s got a tremendous turn of foot,” Brinkerhoff said. “He’d always been so headstrong, but he’s learning and he’s going to get better and better.”

A win would put Restrainedvengence in position to become only the third horse in 20 years to sweep the turf series for sophomores should he follow the Oceanside/La Jolla double with a victory in the Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby on Sunday, September 2. If it’s a possibility, Brinkerhoff said: “We’re going for the triple crown.”

The field from the rail: Move Over (Tyler Baze, 6-1), River Boyne (Flavien Prat, 7-5), Arawak (Rafael Bejarano, 5-1), Restrainedvengence (Evin Roman, 7-2), Calexman (Edwin Maldonado, 3-1) and Inscom (Martin Garcia, 12-1).

TWO WEEKS OUT, A FIRST LOOK AT TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC POSSIBLES

With two weeks to go before the 28^th running of the TVG Pacific Classic, the racing office has provided a list of eight possible runners for the 1 ¼-mile signature event of the summer meeting.

Nominations will be taken through next Thursday, August 9, and beyond that supplemental entries, at a fee of $10,000, will be accepted until the close of entries on Tuesday, August 14. So there’s time for plenty of additions or subtractions. But here’s the preliminary names in alphabetical order.

Accelerate – Last year’s third-place finisher in the Classic, the winner of both the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita this year, is scheduled for his penultimate work for the Classic on Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m.

Assistant trainer Juan Leyva will be aboard, as he was a week earlier when Accelerate went six furlongs in 1:14.80.

“Both of them are important works,” Sadler said Saturday. “We’ll see what happens.”

Beach View – The Grade III, 1 ½-mile Cougar II Handicap, which Beach View won on July 25 for trainer Leonard Powell, has been successfully used as prep for the Classic before, most notably by Bob Baffert with Richard’s Kid in 2009.

After the Cougar II, Powell said the Pacific Classic would be give consideration. But so will the Del Mar Handicap, on the Pacific Classic undercard, for the versatile dirt or turf runner.

Catalina Cruiser – Friday morning the San Diego Handicap winner worked four furlongs in 48 flat under Leyva for Sadler, the first significant exercise for the undefeated (3-for-3)  4-year-old since his impressive, 6 ¾-length romp in the major Pacific Classic prep.

Sadler has downplayed the possibility of running both Accelerate and Catalina Cruiser, with Accelerate holding preference, but said Saturday: “You have to list them both,” Sadler said. “It’s unlikely we would run two, but we’ll nominate both for sure.”

Dr. Dorr and Mubtaahij – Baffert’s possibles worked Tuesday morning with both Dr. Dorr, second in the San Diego, and Mubtaahij, who missed the San Diego after running a temperature, clocked in 49 flat for four furlongs. Defending TVG Pacific Classic champion Collected recently shipped in to Baffert’s barn from Kentucky, but has not worked at Del Mar.

“Two weeks out and I don’t have a clue,” Baffert said Saturday when asked about his Classic candidates.

Pavel – Friday morning, the winner of the Stephen Foster Handicap in June at Churchill Downs, went five furlongs in 1:01.60 under jockey Mario Gutierrez for trainer Doug O’Neill.

“Everybody was happy with it,” said O’Neill assistant Leandro Mora. It was the third work at Del Mar for the  5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky. “He’ll probably have one more light work, a week out from the Pacific Classic,” Mora said.

Prime Attraction – The Jim Cassidy-trained 5-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song ran a good second to Accelerate in the San Pasqual at Santa Anita in his 2018 debut and is 2-for-2 on the Del Mar main track. The versatile performer was third in the Grade II Eddie Read on Turf on July 25 and will have options other than the Classic.

Sharp Samurai – The top three-year-old of the 2017 meeting has won six of his last nine starts, all on turf, and was beaten only a neck by Catapult in the Eddie Read. The Classic would be a bold move, but the purse and prestige make it worth considering for trainer Mark Glatt and the owning partnership.

BELLAFINA COULD BE THE BELLE OF THE SORRENTO BALL

Kaleem Shah’s Bellafina didn’t produce an impressive win in her racing debut at Los Alamitos on the Fourth of July. The $800,000 purchase in March at the Fasig-Tipton sale was second, beaten 1 ¼-lengths by Katieleigh as the 1-2 favorite in the five-furlong test for 2-year-old fillies.

The Simon Callaghan-trained daughter of Quality Road has been stepped up to the Grade II stakes level for Sunday’s $200,000 Sorrento and established as the 7-2 morning line favorite in a field of 10 for the six-furlong sprint.

The opportunity for redemption, if it’s at all necessary, is at hand.

“We’ve always thought highly of her and she’s trained really well since she’s been down here,” Callaghan said Saturday morning. “We’re expecting her to run very well.”

There were extenuating circumstances in Bellafina’s debut.

“It was a touch disappointing at the time, but it was from the No. 1 hole and we’ve added some blinkers since then which will help her focus,” Callaghan said. “I think the extra distance is going to help and I think she’s ready to step up and show what we think she’s capable of doing.”

The field from the rail: Madison’s Quarters (Mike Smith, 20-1), Dragic (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Bellafina (Flavien Prat, 7-2), Lady Lucy (Martin Garcia, 8-1), Dichotomy (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1), Summerland (Tyler Baze, 12-1), Stirred (Drayden Van Dyke, 5-1), Reflect (Kent Desormeaux, 5-1), Boujie Girl (Geovanni Franco, 6-1) and Del Mar May (Corey Nakatani, 9-2).

APPRENTICE FIGUEROA GETS A PERSONAL BEST WITH THREE-WIN FRIDAY

The three-win day for apprentice Heriberto Figueroa was the first triple of his career, agent Nelson Arroyo confirmed Saturday morning.

Figueroa swept the opening double with Lucky Staxx ($13.60) in the first and Family Girl ($16.40) in the second. The Figueroa double paid $82.40 for a $2 bet.

The 18-year-old from Puerto Rico saved his best for three races later, however, guiding Tell Me More ($15.40) on a stretch rally to a half-length victory over co-favorite Mo See Cal and meet-leading rider Flavien Prat.

“That race he rode like a good journeyman on turf,” said Arroyo, a former jockey. “The way he broke, settled the horse and then came up  the rail to beat Prat showed a lot.”

The wins increased Figueroa’s total for the meet to nine from 40 mounts, a tie for fourth with Tyler Baze (9-for-64). Prat tops the standings with 14 wins from 56 mounts with Drayden Van Dyke (10-for-45) and apprentice Assael Espinoza (10-for-68) tied for second.

CLOSERS – The stall in the Bob Baffert stable that came open with the retirement and ship to Kentucky of Triple Crown Champion Justify has a new occupant. An unraced 2-year-old son of City Zip, a $200,000 Keeneland September sale purchase with the same WinStar Farm ownership as Justify who is nominated to the Del Mar Futurity and has strung together bullet works at Los Alamitos has moved into Justify’s digs. But before letting the “next great” thoughts  loose in your head, consider the colt’s name – Improbable … Selected works from 183 officially timed Saturday morning: Stretford End (3f, :35.40), Brill (5f, 1:00.40), Fahan Mura  (1:03.00), Thirteen Squared (5f, :58.80) …Fahan Mura (see work above) was scratched from Saturday’s Grade II $200,000 Yellow Ribbon. The Yellow Ribbon was 15 days removed from a victory in the Osunitas Handicap for Vladimir Cerin-trained Fahan Mura.

DEL MAR STATISTICS

 Jockey Standings

(Current Through Friday, August 3, 2018 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Friday, August 3, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Friday, August 3, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 40 out of 112 -- 35.71%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 33 out of 70 -- 47.14%

Winning favorites on turf -- 7 out of 42 -- 16.67%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 12 out of 16 -- 75.00%

In-the-Money favorites -- 76 out of 112 -- 67.86%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 16 out of 16 -- 100.00%