Omaha Beach 

SMITH GOES TO WORK AGAIN – BRIGHT AND EARLY

Roughly 15 hours after riding McKinzie to an impressive and emotionally-charged victory in the $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was back at Del Mar riding workouts Sunday morning.

Work as usual, but not the usual works. During the 6 o’clock hour Smith was aboard the 2-year-old filly America’s Surprise, a daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and half-sister to champion Songbird for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. (More about that later).

At 7:45, Smith was up on Omaha Beach, the Arkansas Derby winner and early favorite for the Kentucky Derby before being scratched due to an entrapped epiglottis, for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.

The work basics: America’s Surprise went five furlongs in 1:00.20 from the gate with the interim half-mile in :47.40; Omaha Beach went five furlongs in :59.80, covering the last quarter in 23 seconds.

Smith, who turns 54 next Saturday, was a passenger on a private jet from Saratoga, along with fellow jockey Flavien Prat, which allowed him to be back at Del Mar by around 9:30 Saturday night, get some sleep and make his early morning commitments.

“It was brilliant,” Smith said of the Omaha Beach work. “He’s feeling really good and he went really well … Songbird’s little sister also went really well. It’s hard to be compared to your sister, like she will be, but she’s nice.”

Mandella’s delight with the effort of Omaha Beach, who is being targeted for a comeback in the Shared Belief Stakes on August 25, was obvious from the smile on his face. “He broke off six lengths behind my other horse (Magical  Kiss) and left her behind (at the wire) by about that many,” Mandella said. “I had him galloping out (6 furlongs) in 1:12.

“I couldn’t have asked for any better.”

America’s Surprise is being aimed for a race here next Sunday. Hollendorfer assistant Dan Ward noted of the work: “From what I’ve seen she’s got a really smooth action – like him (American Pharoah).”

Smith’s morning concluded with a work on the turf aboard Originaire (5f, 1:03.20) for trainer Jeff Mullins. Originaire provided Smith with his first of three wins at the meeting with a last-to-first burst in the seventh race on July 18, the second day of the meeting.

Smith has two mounts on today’s card. He rides Express Train (5-1) for trainer John Shirreffs in the fifth and Jack Van Berg (20-1) for Mike Puhich in the sixth.

YELLOW RIBBON WINNER HEADED HOME, BUT MAY RETURN IN FALL

The 1-2 finishers in Saturday’s Grade II $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap were both housed in Phil D’Amato’s Barn A in the Del Mar stable area. Beau Recall came out of a stall at the far end of the shedrow from D’Amato’s office, and came along the rail to barely nose out D’Amato’s Storm the Hill, the difference between the $120,000 prize to the winner and $40,000 for the runner-up.

Beau Recall, a 5-year-old Irish-bred mare, had her head out over the stall webbing to greet visitors Sunday morning and Donnie Balthazar, assistant to trainer Brad Cox, said the mare exited the race in good shape.

“I talked to Brad on the phone last night and he was happy,” Balthazar said. “He won a Grade I at Saratoga ($500,000 Longines Test with Covfefe) and the Grade II here. It was a good day.”

Beau Recall will ship back to Kentucky on Tuesday where future races will be decided. Balthazar wouldn’t speculate, but said there could be a chance she would return for a stakes during the fall season in November.

At the other end of the shedrow, D’Amato said he was pleased with the effort of Storm the Hill.

“She’s fine today,” D’Amato said. “We’ll talk to the owners and see what’s next. The winner ran huge and Vasilika was right there too. It was a great race.”

Jerry Hollendorfer assistant Dan Ward said Vasilika, who had a four-race streak snapped and lost for only the third time in her last 15 starts, also came out of the half-length loss in good shape.

The 5-year-old mare had been given a seven-week break between an April win in the Royal Heroine and May triumph in the Grade I Gamely at Santa Anita and a 10-week stretch between the Gamely and the Yellow Ribbon. The breaks may pay off in as-yet-undetermined races down the road.

SORRENTO TOP THREE ALL POSSIBLE FOR DEBUTANTE

The top three finishers from the Grade II $200,000 Sorrento Stakes all came out of the race in good shape and could meet again in the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on August 31.

Trainer Simon Callaghan expressed pleasure with 1-3 finishers Amalfi Sunrise and Shedaresthedevil after the six furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies and said it was possible both would represent him as he tries to win a third straight Debutante.

Callaghan saddled Moonshine Memories to win the 2017 Debutante and had Bellafina complete the Sorrento-Debutante double last year.

Callaghan, who travelled Sunday to Saratoga for the upcoming sales, watched from here as Bellafina finished third in the $500,000 Test Stakes there on Saturday.

“She didn’t break as cleanly as we wanted,” Callaghan said from the winner’s circle after the Sorrento. “That (Saratoga) track was kind of speed favoring and the break left her too far back. A little disappointing, but the break cost her.”

Bellafina will ship back to Del Mar and begin preparations for an as yet undetermined next start.

Trainer Peter Eurton was pleased with the runner-up Sorrento effort by Powerful Attraction.

“Anything’s possible,” Eurton said of a start in the seven-furlong Debutante. “I’m sure the owners would like it and I think she’d like the extra distance. We’ll see.”

VAN DYKE, O’NEILL GRAB LEADS IN JOCKEY, TRAINER RACES

With two wins each on Saturday, Drayden Van Dyke and Doug O’Neill moved to the top of the jockey and trainer standings.

Van Dyke, the defending summer meet champion, won the sixth race with Castle for trainer Andy Mathis then took the featured Yellow Ribbon Handicap aboard Beau Recall. Wins Nos. 15 and 16 give the 24-year-old native of Kentucky a one-win edge over Flavien Prat – across the country Saturday to ride Bellafina in the Test at Saratoga – entering the final day of Week III of the meeting.

O’Neill, a five-time Del Mar training champion, took two of the first three races on Saturday to break a tie with Peter Miller and move to 12  for the meeting. O’Neill’s wins came with Lazy Daisy in the first and Legends of War in the third.

Both O’Neill wins came with Rafael Bejarano aboard. Bejarano, a seven-time Del Mar riding champion between 2008 and 2016, is again a major factor. The 37-year-old Peruvian has 13 wins, only three behind Van Dyke.

CLOSERS – There will be time after the last race to head over to the Belly Up Tavern in nearby Solana Beach for the jockeys’ Karaoke Contest to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Doors open for general admission at 7:45 with the performances from several members of the Del Mar jockey colony starting at 8. Walk-up tickets are limited to the event capacity, attendees must be 21 or older … Selected works from 248 officially timed Sunday: Dirt – Show It N Moe It (4f, :47.80), Omaha Beach (5f, :59.80), Turf – Bowies Hero (4f, :49.00), Majestic Eagle (4f, :50.00), Toinette (4f, :49.20) … A field of 10 was drawn for Friday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes. From the rail: Mo See Cal (Flavien Prat), Coco Kisses (Ruben Fuentes), Battleground State (Tiago Pereira), Don’t Sell (Mario Gutierrez), Fiery Lady (Martin Garcia), Pulpit Rider (Drayden Van Dyke), Donut Girl (Abel Cedillo), Lynne’s Legacy (Rafael Bejarano), Sneaking Out (Mike Smith) and A Walk In The Park (Norberto Arroyo, Jr.).

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Saturday, August 3, 2019 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Saturday, August 3, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Saturday, August 3, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 49 out of 114 -- 42.98%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 32 out of 68 -- 47.06%

Winning favorites on turf -- 17 out of 46 -- 36.96%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 13 out of 22 -- 59.09%

In-the-Money favorites -- 84 out of 114 -- 73.68%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 20 out of 22 -- 90.91%