Smash Ticket © Benoit Photo

SORRENTO IS A STEP UP FOR FAVORED SMASH TICKET AND NINE RIVALS

One inference from the wire-to-wire, five-length victory Smash Ticket produced in a maiden race here on July 17 – in her second career start after shipping in from Texas – is that the 2-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute “likes” Del Mar.

Trainer Todd Fincher doesn’t disagree, but then … “I don’t know who doesn’t like Del Mar?”

The effort on the second day of the meeting was sufficient to merit 9-5 favoritism in a field of 10 on oddsmaker Jon White’s morning line for Friday’s Grade II, $200,000  Sorrento Stakes, the major stepping stone to the Grade I, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on September 5.

“It was a pretty big ask for her to jump on a plane, fly across country, step off and win,” Fincher said. “But she had shown a lot in her first race, so we had high expectations that she could. We think she’s got a really bright future.”

Bred in Kentucky by Brad King and owned by King and partners, Smash Ticket debuted at Lone Star Park on June 5 with a runner-up result in a five-furlong sprint over a muddy track. Two bullet works in a series at the Texas venue about 20 miles west of Dallas prompted Del Mar bettors to make her the even-money choice for her seaside debut under Umberto Rispoli and she verified their perceptions.

Now Smash Ticket, and the rest of the field, will be tasked with going six furlong in a graded event of significant importance. Smash Ticket drew the No. 2 post with Rispoli retaining the mount.

“I’m not concerned,” Fincher said. “I think as she matures she will run longer distances and it won’t be a problem. It (post position) wouldn’t be my first choice, you’d prefer to be more outside in a sprint race like this one. But sometimes the inside can be an advantage. It’s all up to her.”

An original field of 11 was reduced by one when trainer Doug O’Neill opted to run California-bred It’s Simple in Thursday’s CTBA Stakes.

The O’Neal stable will be represented in the Sorrento by She’s So Shiny, a newcomer to the barn who comes in off a third-place finish in an overnight stakes at Belmont Park in June.

“We’ve only had her for about a week,” O’Neill assistant Leandro Mora said. “She ran two good races back east and she’s settled in well. She’s not acting too ‘greenish’ like some 2-year-old fillies can.”

The Sorrento field from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: She’s So Shiny (Ricky Gonzalez, 8-1); Smash Ticket (Rispoli, 9-5); Eda (Abel Cedillo, 4-1); Shesgotattitude (Trevor McCarthy, 8-1); Loverheart (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1);  Sax (Joe Bravo, 10-1); First Promise (Jessica Pyfer, 20-1); Elm Drive (Juan Hernandez, 5-2); Roses For Suzzett (Emily Ellingwood, 20-1), and At the Spa (Tyler Baze, 5-1).

PRAT, SMITH HEAD TO SARATOGA FOR THE WEEKEND

Having doubled the win total of his closest rival with a productive Week 3 of the meeting, leading rider Flavien Prat is scheduled to ride three races on Del Mar’s Thursday card then head for Saratoga and the big stakes weekend there.

Prat enters Week 4 here with 20 wins from 70 mounts, an impressive 29 percent win rate and has recorded top-three finishes in 63 percent of his starts.  The native of France, who marked his 29^th birthday on Wednesday, will be in upstate New York on Friday to ride Public Defender (2-1) in the Grade II Hall of Fame Stakes for Chad Brown. Prat rides two more for Brown on Saturday – Always Carina in the $500,000, Grade I Test Stakes and Flavius in the $120,000 Lure.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who like Prat is represented by agent Brad Pegram, is also headed to Saratoga with a key assignment being on Secret Protector for Charles Appleby in the $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational.

Prat and Smith will remain there for Sunday’s card where the main event is the $700,000 Saratoga Oaks.

Among those hoping to capitalize in the -- “While Prat’s away, it’s an opportunity to make hay” – sweepstakes here are Juan Hernandez, Umberto Rispoli, Abel Cedillo and Kyle Frey.

Hernandez (10 for 72) is second in the standings with Rispoli (9 for 60) and Cedillo (9 for 70) tied for third. Frey (8 for 35) rounds out the top five.

Saddling 10 winners from 54 starters, Peter Miller, often teaming with Prat, has double the victory total of Bob Baffert (5 for 21). Mark Glatt, Simon Callaghan and Peter Eurton all have recorded four wins in the first 10 days of the meeting.

STAKES FOR JUVENILE COLTS, OLDER FEMALES TOP SATURDAY PROGRAM

Pappacap, a son of Gun Runner trained by Mark Casse – a member of the 2020 Hall of Fame class being belatedly inducted on Friday – was established as the 8-5 favorite on Jon White’s morning line for the Grade II, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes, the first of back-to-back graded events on the Saturday card.

The Best Pal, a stepping stone for 2-year-olds to the Grade I, $300,000 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on September 6, will go as the ninth of 11 races on Saturday. It will be immediately followed by the Grade II, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap. Maxim Rate, freshened since a victory in the Grade I Gamely at Santa Anita on May 3, is the 7-2 morning line choice. The 5-year-old Exchange Rate mare is owned by Slam Dunk Racing and partners and trained by Simon Callaghan.

The Best Pal field from the rail, with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: Bet On Mookie (Abel Cedillo, 5-2); Our Empire (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Pappacap (Joe Bravo, 8-5); Finneus (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1); Thirsty Always (apprentice Cesar Ortega, 7-2); Aquitania Arrival (Juan Hernandez, 4-1), and Olympic Legend (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 10-1).

The Yellow Ribbon field from the rail, with jockeys and morning line odds in parenthesis: Bodhicitta (Trevor McCarthy, 6-1); Raymundos Secret (Tiago Pereira, 6-1); Charmaine’s Mia (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Dogtag (Umberto Rispoli, 4-1); Brooke (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Keeper Ofthe Stars (Abel Cedillo, 12-1); Ippodamia's Girl (Giovanni Franco, 12-1); Princess Grace (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1); Maxim Rate (Juan Hernandez, 7-2), and Laura's Light (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 15-1).

MEDINA SPIRIT WORKS 5 FURLONGS IN BULLET :59.60

Medina Spirit, who doesn’t know his Kentucky Derby victory is pending decisions in the courts and by the Kentucky Racing Commission, worked five furlongs in :59.60 at Del Mar on Thursday morning for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.

The son of Protonico worked in tandem with stablemate Speed Pass, who was timed in :48.80 for a half-mile while Medina Spirit went on to a best of 34 at the distance clocking.

“He went very well,” Baffert said via text.

Other notable works, courtesy of clocker/handicapper Toby Turrell, from 100 on dirt and 32 on turf officially timed Thursday morning: Dirt – Warren's Showtime (5f, 1:00.40); Royal Ship (6f, 1:14.60); Turf – Going to Vegas (4f, :48.00); Crew Dragon (6f, 1:13.40).

CLOSERS – Trainer John Sadler said that Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World, nominated to Sunday's La Jolla Handicap, would pass on the race and train up to the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Derby on September 4 … Racing Secretary David Jerkens' records show an increase of roughly 150 horses at Del Mar from a comparable point in 2020. Over 600 two-year-olds are on the grounds currently.

Del Mar Statistics

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Sunday, August 1, 2021 Inclusive)  

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Sunday, August 1, 2021 Inclusive)   

Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Sunday, August 1, 2021 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 31 out of 98 -- 31.63%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 18 out of 56 -- 32.14%
Winning favorites on turf -- 13 out of 42 -- 30.95%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 7 out of 15 -- 46.67%
In-the-Money favorites -- 64 out of 98 -- 65.31%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 12 out of 15 -- 80.00%