SIBLING REVELRY FOR DESORMEAUXS WITH MISS SOUTHERN MISS
Circumstances have prevented the Desormeaux brothers, Hall of Fame jockey Kent and trainer J. Keith, from combining forces with 2-year-old filly Miss Southern Miss for her first two starts.
But that won’t be the case when the Kentucky-bred daughter of More Than Ready takes 2-1 morning line favoritism in a field of six into Saturday’s 48th running of the Grade II $200,000 Sorrento Stakes.
Flavien Prat was aboard Miss Southern Miss for a first-start victory on June 9 at Santa Anita and again for a runner-up effort in the Landaluce Stakes there on July 9. But the jockey switch is unsurprising and understandable to racing fans.
“Kent was out of town for Exaggerator in the Belmont Stakes when she broke her maiden,” Keith noted here Friday morning. “Then, in the Landaluce, he was out of town for a filly of mine at Belmont.
“We’re not firing anybody. Prat is an excellent rider. But I think Kent is going to fit her fine. He has been working her and we’re excited about tomorrow.”
Keith has raised a previously moderate profile to the national big-time level in the last two years with 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red and, this year, with Exaggerator, the Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness winner.
It’s very early, but Desormeaux has high hopes for Miss Southern Miss.
“She’s an exceptional filly. A very sound, happy and talented horse.,” he said. “I think the last race was the result of her being startled by a bump leaving the gate and then blasting off a very fast middle quarter in 21 and change. She’d never done that before and so she tired.
“If she can control herself tomorrow, I think you’ll see what kind of filly I think she really is. “
Like the 5 ½-furlong Landaluce, the Sorrento drew a six-horse field. Miss Southern will break from the No. 2 spot stretching out to 6 ½ furlongs.
“We like the competition, but seeing that it’s not a full field, it should make it a tad easier,” Desormeaux said.
Exaggerator bounced back from an 11th-place result in the Belmont Stakes to take the $1 million Haskell Invitational last Sunday at Monmouth Park in New Jersey when Desormeaux opted for it over the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Catching a sloppy track in New Jersey, Exaggerator romped, as he had done in similar conditions in the Santa Anita Derby last April.
“I think the right call was going to the race that set up better for him, the race with more pace. If the pace is quick he can clock ‘em from behind. He’s a super horse.”
EQUINE STAR WATCH: CALIFORNIA CHROME, BEHOLDER, NYQUIST
Beholder went back to the track for the first time since last Saturday’s runner-up to Stellar Wind in the Clement L. Hirsch stakes, galloping about 1 1/16 miles under exercise rider Janine Painter. A decision on a title defense in the Pacific Classic is still pending.
“Everything looks fine but I’m not even going to think about it for the next couple days,” Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said Friday. “We’ll gallop her for the next couple days and then maybe I’ll start thinking about it.”
California Chrome galloped at Los Alamitos and, on Sunday, is scheduled to have his first workout since winning the San Diego Handicap on July 23. Trainer Art Sherman said the final workout for the $1 million Grade I TVG Pacific Classic on August 20 will also be held at Los Alamitos on the weekend before the race.
California Chrome is racing’s all-time leading money winner and the No. 1 rated runner in North America.
Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was given another day of rest following his fourth-place finish in the $1 million Haskell Invitational last Sunday but will resume light training here Saturday morning, trainer Doug O’Neill said.
DAISYCUTTER FAVORITE IN FOAL TO AMERICAN PHAROAH
Shrinking Violet, the 7-2 favorite in a highly competitive field of nine in Friday’s Daisycutter Handicap, is racing while in foal to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, according to Blake Heap, West Coast assistant to owner/trainer Wesley Ward.
The six-year-old daughter of Congaree is the defending champion in the Daisycutter, a five-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, notching a 4 ¾-length victory under Kent Desormeaux over Home Journey last summer. Santiago Gonzalez has the mount on Shrinking Violet today, Desormeaux switches to Home Journey.
Shrinking Violet was second to Prize Exhibit in the Grade II Monrovia on January 3 at Santa Anita. Shipped east, Ward saddled Shrinking Violet for overnight stakes at Belmont Park in May and June before the American Pharoah breeding, Heap said.
She has three works here preparing for the Daisycutter.
“I don’t know if she’s doing quite as well as she was last year, but she’s doing good,” Heap said.
Bob Baffert, who trained American Pharoah, will saddle Swift Lady, the 4-1 morning line second choice in the Daisycutter.
“They were schooling the other day and I told Baffert she was in foal to American Pharoah,” Heap related. “He said, ‘Man, I hope she doesn’t run like American Pharoah.’”
ELEKTRUM TABBED MORNING LINE FAVORITE FOR OSUNITAS
Elektrum, the 2015 John C. Mabee Stakes winner, drew the No. 3 post position and was made the 5-2 favorite in a field of eight for Sunday’s featured $75,000 Osunitas Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the turf for older fillies and mares.
A 5-year-old Irish-bred daughter of High Chaparral owned by Hronis Raching and trained by John Sadler, Elektrum has shown remarkable consistency in 10 U.S. races spaced over 18 months since being imported from France. Her last seven starts have all come against graded stakes competition with a victory in the Grade II Mabee, second in the Grade I Rodeo Drive and most recently a third in the Grade I Gamely on May 30 at Santa Anita being the best results.
The Osunitas field from the rail: Juno (Flavien Prat, 9-2), Sobradora Inc (Rafael Bejarano, 5-1), Elektrum (Victor Espinoza, 5-2), Moon Over Paris (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 20-1), Prize Exhibit (Mike Smith, 7-2), My Year Is a Day (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1), Havanna Belle (Tyler Baze, 6-1) and Entrechat (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1).
SAHADI, FREE GUEST ON WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS
Former trainer and current president of the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation Jenine Sahadi and Daily Racing Form writer and chief West Coast handicapper Brad Free are the guests for the weekend handicapping seminars.
Sahadi became the first female trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup race when she saddled Lit de Justice to win the 1996 Sprint and followed that up with a victory by Elmhurst in the same race the following year, will present her insights and selections on Saturday.
Free will be the guest of Scott Shapiro on Sunday.
The seminars begin at 12:45 and continue to approximately 1:30 and are held at the Seaside Terrace near the top of the stretch.
CLOSERS – With two wins on Thursday, jockey Santiago Gonzalez trimmed the lead of Flavien Prat atop the jockey standings to three (16-13). Prat blanked on his 24th birthday. “I don’t want him (Prat) to get too relaxed,” said Ron Ebanks, Gonzalez’s agent. “I want to keep him in range, then when I go to the left-handed stick he won’t see it coming. It’s exciting and the thing is, they’re both very good riders and real gentlemen too.” … Selected workouts from 125 officially timed Friday morning – Imperative (5f, 1:02.00), Morganite (5f, :59.40), Patentar (5f, 1:02.40).
DEL MAR STATISTICS
Jockey Standings
(Current Through Thursday, August 4, 2016 Inclusive)
|
Jockey |
Mts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
In-money% |
Money Won |
|
Flavien Prat |
81 |
16 |
11 |
7 |
20% |
41% |
$957,280 |
|
Santiago Gonzalez |
82 |
13 |
14 |
16 |
11% |
47% |
$597,159 |
|
Tyler Baze |
83 |
9 |
14 |
16 |
11% |
47% |
$653,998 |
|
Rafael Bejarano |
61 |
9 |
11 |
13 |
15% |
54% |
$683,631 |
|
Kent Desormeaux |
59 |
8 |
13 |
9 |
14% |
51% |
$580,255 |
|
Mario Gutierrez |
38 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
21% |
42% |
$418,082 |
|
Victor Espinoza |
29 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
28% |
55% |
$653,413 |
|
Stewart Elliott |
43 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
16% |
23% |
$245,315 |
|
Norberto Arroyo, Jr. |
30 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
17% |
50% |
$219,090 |
|
Tiago Pereira |
37 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11% |
30% |
$183,178 |
Trainer Standings
(Current Through Thursday, August 4, 2016 Inclusive)
|
Trainer |
Sts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
In-money% |
Money Won |
|
Philip D'Amato |
37 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
19% |
49% |
$608,376 |
|
Bob Baffert |
28 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
25% |
54% |
$572,645 |
|
John W. Sadler |
26 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
23% |
54% |
$480,780 |
|
Mark Glatt |
18 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
33% |
72% |
$211,075 |
|
Peter Miller |
40 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
15% |
45% |
$318,020 |
|
Richard Baltas |
22 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
23% |
59% |
$277,321 |
|
Doug F. O'Neill |
53 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
8% |
34% |
$306,025 |
|
Jerry Hollendorfer |
31 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
13% |
35% |
$281,628 |
|
Michael Machowsky |
12 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
33% |
42% |
$134,500 |
|
Brian J. Koriner |
12 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
25% |
67% |
$150,935 |
Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Thursday, August 4, 2016 Inclusive)
Winning favorites -- 44 out of 131 -- 33.59%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 31 out of 87 -- 35.63%
Winning favorites on turf -- 13 out of 44 -- 29.55%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 7 out of 16 -- 43.75%
In-the-Money favorites -- 95 out of 131 -- 72.52%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 13 out of 16 -- 81.25%
Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793