SAN CLEMENTE CONDITIONS LOOK RIGHT FOR MUCHO UNUSUAL
George Krikorian’s 3-year-old filly Mucho Unusual is 2-for-2 since being switched to turf racing at the one-mile distance early this year at Santa Anita.
So it’s not surprising that the daughter of Mucho Macho Man out of the Unusual Heat mare Not Unusual, is being given a lot of respect going into Saturday’s Grade II $200,000 San Clemente Stakes. The San Clemente’s conditions – 3-year-old fillies at a mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course – couldn’t be more ideal for Mucho Unusual considering her wins in the California Cup Oaks in February and an allowance event in June.
Joel Rosario, aboard for the three-length Cal Cup score on a course rated “good,” returns to the irons Saturday. Flavien Prat piloted the win, by a head, in June.
“She came out of the allowance race that we used as a prep for the San Clemente in excellent shape and she’s in good form since we brought her down here,” trainer Tim Yakteen said Friday morning. “The race comes up very competitive, so it’s in Joel’s hands.
“There’s a decent amount of pace in the race and Joel will figure it out. He’ll break and play it by ear. It depends on how the other speed horses break. He’ll make his call at that point.
“But we couldn’t be happier with the way she’s training and we’re hoping that she runs the same race, or a little bit better than her previous and she should be right there in the mix of things.”
A win by Mucho Unusual would be the second stakes of the meeting for Krikorian. His Hollywood Hills prevailed in Thursday’s Fleet Treat.
Mucho Unusual’s racing debut was a runner-up effort in the Generous Portion Stakes for California breds here during the final week of the 2018 summer season. She enters the San Clemente, often a stepping stone to the Grade I Del Mar Oaks in August, with three wins and two seconds in six career starts and earnings of $252,680.
The field from the rail: Keeper Ofthe Stars (Rafael Bejarano, 12-1), Seranitsa (Ruben Fuentes, 8-1), Mucho Unusual (Joel Rosario, 7-2), Devils Dance (Jorge Velez, 20-1), Apache Princess (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1), Over Emphasize (Alonso Quinonez, 8-1), Harmless (Abel Cedillo, 20-1), Stillwater Cove (Victor Espinoza, 5-2), Maxim Rate (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1) and Kalliniki (Flavien Prat, 20-1).
The San Clemente goes as the eighth on a 10-race card starting at 2 p.m.
EURTON’S CORE BELIEFS: A STRONG SAN DIEGO CONTENDER
Justifiably, defending race champion Catalina Cruiser commands attention above all others, and designation as the 1-to-2 morning line favorite while drawing the No. 1 post, for Satuday’s Grade II $200,000 San Diego Handicap.
But standing just to the outside of Catalina Cruiser waiting for the gates to open will be Gary S. Broad’s Core Beliefs, a two-time graded stakes winner and earner of $873,011 who ranks, with 2018 San Diego runner-up Dr. Dorr, as a potential upsetter.
A 4-year-old son of Quality Road acquired for $350,000 in March of 2017, Core Beliefs recouped nearly double his purchase price with a 2018 campaign highlighted by a spring/summer run in which he finished third in the Santa Anita Derby and second in the Peter Pan at Belmont Park before winning the Ohio Derby. A victory in the New Orleans Handicap in his 2019 debut in March and sixth of seven in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita served as prelude to the San Diego.
“His works have been pretty good and he’s doing very well,” trainer Peter Eurton said Friday morning while conceding that the task for Core Beliefs looks formidable.
“Catalina Cruiser is a tough horse,” Eurton said. “If somebody decides to go with him and soften him up that might help, but if he catches an easy lead he’ll be tough to beat. And I don’t see too much speed in there.”
The field from the rail: Catalina Cruiser (Joel Rosario, 1-2), Core Beliefs (Flavien Prat, 5-1), Higher Power (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1), Draft Pick (Martin Garcia, 8-1), Mongolian Groom (Abel Cedillo, 15-1) and Dr. Dorr (Rafael Bejarano, 4-1).
The San Diego goes as the fourth on a 10-race card.
CONTENTION RUNS DEEP IN SUNDAY’S EDDIE READ
Defending race champion Catapult will break from the No. 3 post in a field of six for Sunday’s Grade II $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes. A 6-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy owned by Woodford Racing and trained by John Sadler, Catapult was installed as the 2-1 choice in oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line, issued Friday, but will have three competitors with opening odds in the 5-2 or 7-2 range to the immediate outside.
The field from rail for the 1 1/8-mile turf event: Ohio (Ruben Fuentes. 6-1), Ritzy A.P. (Martin Garcia, 15-1), Catapult (Drayden Van Dyke, 2-1), Sharp Samurai (Victor Espinoza, 5-2), Marckie’s Water (Tiago Pereira, 7-2) and Bowies Hero (Flavien Prat, 7-2).
ENTERING HIS 8TH DECADE AT DEL MAR, McANALLY EYES WICKERR
Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally is set to inaugurate the start of his eighth decade at Del Mar when he sends out Le Ken in the $85,000 added Wickerr Stakes on Sunday.
McAnally, who celebrated his 87th birthday on July 11, was on site in 1948 as a teenager working for his uncle, trainer Reggie Cornell. McAnally started training on his own in 1958 and recorded his first Del Mar stakes win in 1961 with Donut King in the CTBA Sales Stakes. His stakes win total here has grown to 77, second all time behind Bob Baffert (128) and ahead of Charlie Whittingham (74).
Of Le Ken, a 6-year-old Argentine-bred, McAnally said: “He’ll be a long shot, but if he gets through (traffic) he could do well. But it’s not an easy race. He comes from behind, so you’ve got to wait with him and hope to get lucky and get through. All we can do is try.”
Stakes win No. 75 here for McAnally, the one that moved him past Whittingham, came with Suggestive Boy in the 2012 Wickerr. He since added the 2013 Adoration (Charm the Maker) and 2014 Yellow Ribbon (Miss Serendipity).
The Wickerr field from the rail: Le Ken (Geovanni Franco, 10-1), Restrainedvengence (Evin Roman, 30-1), Law Abidin Citizen (Tiago Pereira, 5-1), Higher Power (Drayden Van Dyke, 5-1), Bombard (Flavien Prat, 3-1), Souter (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 4-1), Blended Citizen (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Tizzarunner (Ruben Fuentes, 10-1) and Double Touch (Alonso Quinonez, 12-1).
RIDERS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR PDJF IN CONJUNCTION WITH “PHOTO DAY”
Del Mar’s jockeys will join together Saturday to take photos, sign autographs and collect donations for a cause near and dear to their hearts – the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund (PDJF).
The event unfolds in its usual spot – alongside the large fountain in the middle of Plaza de Mexico – from noon to 1:15 p.m. and will feature many of the riders currently tacking up at the shore oval. It is known as “Jockey Photo Day,” a Del Mar tradition that goes back 26 years. But in addition to the smiles and the friendly photos, the jocks are willing to sign an Opening Day photo of the whole colony for a donation to the PDJF.
Fans are encouraged to bring their phones and their smiles for a session with some of the best riders in the world. A chance to contribute to the PDJF – a most worthy cause – adds a nice extra to the annual event.
CLOSERS -- The Red Cross will be conducting a blood drive Sunday, July 21, inside the Mission Tower Building from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Registration will be in the Plaza de Mexico and donations from up to 75 people can be taken …Selected works from 170 officially timed Friday morning: Amalfi Sunrise (5f, 1:01.20), Flor de La Mar (5f, 1:01.00), Just a Smidge (5f, 1:01.60), Schrodinger (5f, :59.80).