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‘CALIFORNIA GIRL’ TIME AND MOTION A MAJOR MATRIARCH THREAT
Having spent her entire nine-race career at East Coast venues, 3-year-old filly Time and Motion boarded a plane in New York on Monday and journeyed to Del Mar for Sunday’s Grade I $300,000 Matriarch Stakes.
How’s she adjusting?
“I think she likes being a California girl,” said Tiffany Webb, assistant to trainer James Toner and the person in charge of the daughter of Tapit bred and owned by the Phillips Racing Partnership.
“She just walked Tuesday and she’s been galloping ever since and she’s doing very well.”
Time and Motion enhances a Matriarch, being run for the third time at Del Mar and the 36th overall, which has the depth of talent befitting the climactic event of the Bing Crosby season.
Five wins in six 2016 starts have established Time and Motion among the elite 3-year-old turf fillies in the nation and fully capable of dealing with older female grass runners like morning line favorite Miss Temple City and second choice Zindaya in the field of 12.
Winless in three starts at two, Time and Motion won her first three in 2016 – a maiden at Gulfstream Park in March and ungraded stakes with six-figure purses at Aqueduct and Belmont in April and June.
Second by a half-length to Catch a Glimpse in the Belmont Oaks in July, Time and Motion proceeded to win the Grade II Lake Placid at Saratoga in August and the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland on October 15.
There were Breeders’ Cup races with purses of $1 million and up on the horizon at Santa Anita on November 4-5. But Webb said they weren’t given much consideration.
“It (Breeders’ Cup) was too close between races,” said Webb, who left a law career for her current one. “She came out of the Queen Elizabeth great. But to have her ship back to New York, then California and run in that short a time. Jim’s not one to do that.”
This will be the second straight Matriarch in which Webb has been a participant. She accompanied Recepta out for Toner and Phillips Racing Partnership last year. Recepta had the lead down the stretch before losing by a head to Stormy Lucy.
“That was a heartbreaker for me,” she said.
Time and Motion has $923,150 in career earnings, all but $54,150 of that coming in 2016. The $180,000 winner’s share of the purse would lift her past the $1 million mark in earnings, the $60,000 runner-up prize on the threshold of seven figures.
The time is for Time and Motion to remain a “California girl” for at least the rest of December. She’ll ship from Del Mar to Santa Anita next week and prepare there for the Grade I American Oaks on New Year’s eve.
The Matriarch field from the rail: Tiz a Kiss (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1), Stays in Vegas (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), Kitcat (Tiago Pereira, 30-1), Zindaya (Javier Castellano, 9-2), Sobradora Inc (Martin Garcia, 20-1), Mexican Gold (Irad Ortiz, Jr., 8-1), Roca Rojo (Florent Geroux, 7-2), Nancy From Nairobi (Tyler Baze, 12-1), Decked Out (Victor Espinoza, 20-1), Prize Exhibit (Mike Smith, 20-1), Time and Motion (John Velazquez, 5-1) and Miss Temple City (Edgar Prado, 3-1).
JOCKEY COLONY GETS STAR BOOST FOR THE WEEKEND
Petco Park hosted Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in July.
The case can be made that Del Mar is the venue for a reasonable facsimile in the sport of thoroughbred racing on the closing weekend of the meeting.
Three of the top four jockeys for money earnings in 2016 have shipped in from New York for primary assignments in the Grade I Hollywood Derby on Saturday and the Grade I Matriarch on Sunday. And they’ve all accepted calls in some of the 16 other races on the weekend cards.
The New York stars join Del Mar-based Hall of Famers Kent Desormeaux, Mike Smith, Alex Solis and Gary Stevens and a host of other local favorites to provide fans with a rare opportunity to compare and contrast at one place the styles and successes of standouts that are generally separated by thousands of miles.
Here’s a rundown of the New York riding crew, their earnings and Del Mar mounts.
Javier Castellano (No. 1 in North America, more than $26.2 million) – Saturday: Wild At Heart (6th, 5-1), Annals of Time (7th, 6-1), American Anthem (8th, 9-2), Champagne Charley (9th, 8-1); Sunday: True Testament (1st, 3-1), Cedar Rapids (3rd, 7-2), Midnight Swinger (5th, 12-1), Zindaya (7th, 9-2) and The Gomper (8th, 7-2).
Irad Ortiz, Jr., (No. 2, more than $22.3 million) – Saturday: Los Gatos (3rd, 6-1), Entrechat (5th, 6-1), Camelot Kitten (7th, 7-2), Union Rebel (8th, 20-1); Sunday – Mischievous Champ(1st, 12-1), Eaglemaker (3rd, 8-1), Late ‘n Left (4th, 5-1), Untouchable U (5th, 6-1), Mexican Gold (7th, 8-1), Who’s Out (8th, 3-1) and Awesome Heights (9th, 12-1).
John Velazquez (No. 4, more than $18.2 million) – Saturday: Rprettyboyfloyd (3rd, 8-1), Isotherm (7th, 12-1), American League (9th, 6-1); Sunday – Longstocking (5th, 12-1), Time and Motion (7th, 5-1).
Florent Geroux (No. 5, more than $16.8 million) – Saturday: Beach Patrol (7th, 9-2); Sunday – Sutton’s Smile (5th, 9-2) and Roca Rojo (7th, 7-2).
ARROYO TIES PRAT; EYES FIRST WEST COAST RIDING TITLE
A victory aboard Resky Business in Friday’s second race moved Norberto Arroyo, Jr., into a tie with the injured Flavien Prat atop the jockey standings entering the final two days of the Bing Crosby meeting.
Arroyo and Prat, who is out for the meeting, have 11 wins each. Drayden Van Dyke and Victor Espinoza have nine wins each. Kent Desormeaux, who notched three on Friday, is next with eight.
Arroyo has five scheduled mounts on Saturday and six on Sunday. Van Dyke is booked to ride five Saturday and seven Sunday.
“It would be more than a dream come true, because we really couldn’t have dreamed of winning a title like this before,” said Nelson Arroyo, brother and agent to Norberto. “When we were both riding together in New York, we would talk about some day ending up in California. But we said it as a joke, we didn’t even dream it could happen.”
Norberto won two riding titles at Aqueduct and two at Turfway Park and came to California near the end of 2014 with his brother as agent to restart a career interrupted by a drug-related jail term.
“We’ve been in both New York and California and we think California is the best of the best,” Nelson said. “When we came here the reception by the horsemen was wonderful and we have friendships here like we never had anywhere else. It would be humbling and very satisfying to win a title here.”
CLOSERS – California Chrome worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 Saturday morning at Los Alamitos with exercise rider Dihigi Gladney up. Splits were :25.00, and :48.60 with a gallop-out to six furlongs in 1:13.80. California Chrome is being prepared for a start in the newly-created Winter Challenge race at Los Alamitos on December 17.
DEL MAR STATISTICS
Jockey Standings
(Current Through Friday, December 2, 2016 Inclusive)
|
Jockey |
Mts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
In-money% |
Money Won |
|
Norberto Arroyo, Jr. |
71 |
11 |
14 |
6 |
15% |
44% |
$451,450 |
|
Flavien Prat |
55 |
11 |
10 |
11 |
20% |
58% |
$446,287 |
|
Drayden Van Dyke |
42 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
21% |
45% |
$472,698 |
|
Victor Espinoza |
28 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
32% |
54% |
$368,278 |
|
Kent Desormeaux |
51 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
16% |
37% |
$368,537 |
|
Tyler Baze |
63 |
7 |
7 |
9 |
11% |
37% |
$357,209 |
|
Santiago Gonzalez |
58 |
7 |
6 |
10 |
12% |
40% |
$324,825 |
|
Joseph Talamo |
46 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
13% |
33% |
$326,360 |
|
Martin Pedroza |
35 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
17% |
34% |
$192,565 |
|
Mike Smith |
29 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
21% |
45% |
$349,342 |
Trainer Standings
(Current Through Friday, December 2, 2016 Inclusive)
|
Trainer |
Sts |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Win% |
In-money% |
Money Won |
|
Peter Miller |
41 |
14 |
7 |
3 |
34% |
59% |
$506,467 |
|
Doug F. O'Neill |
45 |
7 |
11 |
3 |
16% |
47% |
$387,355 |
|
Mark Glatt |
23 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
26% |
48% |
$199,800 |
|
Richard Baltas |
32 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
19% |
38% |
$246,925 |
|
Mike Puype |
24 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
21% |
50% |
$144,525 |
|
Jerry Hollendorfer |
24 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
21% |
42% |
$212,598 |
|
Steven Miyadi |
17 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
29% |
47% |
$101,949 |
|
Philip D'Amato |
27 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
11% |
33% |
$225,970 |
|
John W. Sadler |
13 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
23% |
38% |
$103,859 |
|
William E. Morey |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
60% |
60% |
$75,840 |
Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Friday, December 2, 2016 Inclusive)
Winning favorites -- 35 out of 111 -- 31.53%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 25 out of 72 -- 34.72%
Winning favorites on turf -- 10 out of 39 -- 25.64%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 11 out of 17 -- 64.71%
In-the-Money favorites -- 74 out of 111 -- 66.67%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 15 out of 17 -- 88.24%
Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793