California Chrome came out of Saturday’s scintillating and narrow victory over Dortmund in the San Diego Handicap fit and feisty as ever. And, according to trainer Art Sherman, ready to return to the familiar surroundings of his Los Alamitos home base.

 

“He said he missed it and wanted to get back,” Sherman said. So the 2014 Horse of the Year, top all-time money earner, current No. 1 runner in North America and probably most popular horse world-wide, was scheduled for an 8 a.m. van ride up the  I-5 and 405 freeways to the Orange County track.

 

“He pulled up good, ate up and looks great,” Sherman said. “I’m really happy with everything about him this morning.”

 

For both California Chrome and Dortmund, returning to races off long layoffs,  the Grade II $200,000 1 1/16-mile San Diego was, as it is designed to be, a “prep” race for the Grade I $1 million TVG Pacific Classic on August 20.

 

But what a prep.

 

They finished only a half-length apart, nearly eight lengths ahead of third-place Win the Space, in 1:40.84, the last .84 representing the difference from Windy Sands’ 1962 track record for the distance.

 

“They both ran terrific,” Sherman said after the race. “I think both horses needed a race and you’ll see two stronger horses coming back in the Pacific Classic.”

 

Sherman said  California Chrome will be put through “a couple of easy drills” while at Los Alamitos and ship back South about a week before the Classic.

 

Bob Baffert, trainer of Dortmund, was as pleased with his horse’s effort as Sherman was with California Chrome’s.

 

“Dortmund looks great this morning,” Baffert said. “He showed up (Saturday) and I’m proud of his performance. You look at his form and he only loses to Kentucky Derby winners.”

 

The three losses for Dortmund, in 11 career starts are: twice to Triple Crown champion American Pharoah and Saturday to California Chrome.

 

“I had a lot of respect for California Chrome going in and I gained a lot more respect (Saturday),” Baffert said. “Art has done an exceptional job with him.”

 

And if Baffert is a Sherman fan, the same can be said for his 11-year-old son Bode.

 

“Bode was standing with me and he said, ‘Dad, if you couldn’t win I’m glad Art Sherman did. He’s a really nice man,’” Baffert related.

 

Trainer John Sadler, who opted to run Hard Aces in Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Cougar II Handicap rather than the San Diego, was a more-than-interested spectator.

 

“That was a great race and you don’t get to see many of those anymore,” Sadler said. “Guys pick different spots and you don’t get to see top horses go against each other like that much except maybe in Breeders’ Cup races.”

 

California Chrome was accorded a 111 Beyer speed figure for the race, Dortmund a 110.

 

 

 

Seconds after Beholder worked five furlongs in :59.20 Sunday morning, Richard Mandella turned to a video crew and vocalized a phrase from the Buck Owens classic “Act Naturally.”

 

“Bet you I’m gonna be a big star,” Mandella sang, approximately in tune and meter and with the hint of a smile on his face.

 

With regular exercise rider Janeen Painter aboard and jockey Gary Stevens watching from trackside, Beholder broke off at the five-eighths pole with a workmate five or six lengths ahead and cruised through official fractions of :24.20, :47, and :59.20 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:11.60.

 

It was the final serious exercise before the three-time Eclipse Award winner and defending TVG Pacific Classic champion runs in next Saturday’s Grade I $300,000  Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.

 

“It was meant to go off a little easy and finish the way we do most of the time,” Mandella said after inspecting Beholder back at the barn. “It went a little quicker than we planned, but she does that often.

 

“I got her in :58 and 3. She’s ready.”

 

Asked how often workouts inspire him to country song karaoke, Mandella said: “Very few, actually. This might be a first.”

 

About 90 minutes earlier, at 6:30 a.m., champion Stellar Wind, the top rival for Beholder in the Clement L. Hirsch, worked five furlongs in one minute with regular rider Victor Espinoza up. The work was in company with stablemate Carnival Lights, who was timed in 1:01.20.

 

“A maintenance work,” trainer John Sadler said. “A routine work, so we’re on to next Saturday. She had her stronger work a week ago, so she’s ready.”

 

 

 

Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist worked a mile in 1:39.40 at 1 p.m. Sunday in his final workout before returning to the races next Sunday in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Nyquist has been away since incurring the first loss of his career in the Preakness on May 21 when third to Exaggerator.

 

Under regular rider Mario Gutierrez, Nyquist entered the track at the seven-furlong gap and backtracked to the three-eighths pole before turning and galloping up  to the starting line for a work in company with 2-year-old maiden colt stablemate Sorry Erik. Both colts are owned by J. Paul Reddam.

 

With track announcer Trevor Denman making the call for the crowd, timer Russ Hudak caught Nyquist in splits of :25.80, :50.40 and 1:14.40 before going the final quarter in :24.90 to complete  the one-lap journey around the oval.

 

“I’m very happy with it,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He broke off nice and relaxed, settled nicely and when Mario called on him he finished up well. He did everything we wanted and did it the right way.”

 

 

 

Apprentice jockey Chad Lindsay and his veteran agent Vince DeGregory were seated in a golf cart parked near the stable area racing office Saturday morning, accepting congratulations for the 23-year-old Texan’s first Del Mar victory.

 

Lindsay guided G.A. Betting ($48.20) home for trainer Hector Palma in Saturday’s sixth race, a major contributing factor to a Pick Six Carryover of $167,938 entering Sunday’s card.

 

“Twenty-four to one and wire-to-wire,” Lindsay said. “I knew he was a long shot, but you’ve always got  a chance when you’re in the race. I just kept asking and he kept giving  me more.”

 

The win was No. 29 in the career of Lindsay. No. 1 came New Year’s Day at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida. He’ll retain apprentice status until February 6 of next year, De Gregory said.

 

Flavien Prat, Santiago Gonzalez and Kent Desormeaux all notched one win Saturday to remain one win apart atop  the jockey standings. Prat has eight wins, Gonzalez seven and Desormeaux six through the first seven days of the meeting.

 

Phil D’Amato’s victory via an impressive stretch spurt by Metaboss in the fifth race was the difference in a one-run margin over Mark Glatt atop the trainer standings. Glatt saddled two winners in the first three races, both for owners Al and Sandee Kirkwood, boosting his victory total to four.

 

 

 

Smokey Image and Mrazek, who combined to win three stakes at Del Mar as 2-year-olds in 2015, will meet for the first time here in Wednesday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes to kick off the third week of the meeting. The Real Good Deal is at seven furlongs on the main track for California-bred 3-year-olds.

 

Smokey Image won the I’m Smokin Stakes a summer ago and came back in the fall to take the Golden State Juvenile while trained by Greg James. The California-bred son of Southern Image is now conditioned by Carla Gaines and will be ridden for the second time by Martin Garcia in the Real Good Deal.

 

Mrazek, trained by Doug O’Neill for J. Paul Reddam and ridden by Mario Gutierrez, was a wire-to-wire of the Graduation Stakes last August in what proved to be his final 2015 start. The son of Square Eddie recorded his first win in four 2016 starts in the Thor’s Echo at Santa Anita on July 4.

 

The field from the rail out: Family Code (Tyler Baze), Smokey Image (Martin Garcia), Packin Heat (Iggy Puglisi), Tough It Out (Joe Talamo), Tribal Fighter (Rafael Bejarano), Boy Howdy (Santiago Gonzalez), Mrazek (Mario Gutierrez), Gold Rush Dancer (Flavien Prat), Tough But Nice (Fernando Perez) and Taman Guard (Alex Solis).

 

 

 

California Chrome’s triumphant return to racing Saturday at Del Mar was celebrated by many in many ways. One of them was by the track’s Food Truck truckers who gathered more than 40 strong on site for their annual Food Truck Festival.

 

The “truckers” were challenged by the California Chrome connections to come up with a special California Chrome dish for the afternoon and more than a dozen and a half of them jumped into the cooking pan with plenty of fire. The top four finishers all earned special California Chrome silver trays and inclusion in the upcoming California Chrome Cook Book. Kelly Martin, daughter of primary “Chrome” owner Perry Martin, served as the official food taster, tester and judge.

 

The winners were:

#1 -- Monster Crafts Truck - California Chrome Pork Belly Burger

#2 – Ragin Cajun Truck - Cajun Cali Chrome Bisque

#3 – Seoul Man Food Truck - Cali Chrome Double Bacon & Steak Derby Fries

#4 – Hacks Food Truck – California Chrome Sloppy Joe (with pickles)

 

 

CLOSERS – The “California Chrome Package,” consisting of the silks Victor Espinoza wore during the San Diego Handicap and other items, were auctioned for $20,000 at the Barretts Paddock Sale following Saturday’s races. All proceeds go to the V Foundation for cancer research. The purchaser was Mark Stanton from Medford, N.J.  who is here for the two-day Del Mar Handicapping Challenge which concludes Sunday … Mike Smith on his third-place finish aboard Win the Space in the San Diego: “When I could see we had third (place) locked up,  I  just started watching those two up  front. I wanted to see who would win it. Heck of a race.” After catching an overnight flight to New York, Smith will be aboard unbeaten (8-for-8) champion Songbird in the $500,000 Coaching Club of America Oaks at Saratoga this afternoon. Given that the  average margin of victory for Songbird, who trained here for the race, is more than five lengths, Smith figures to be the watchee of other jocks rather than the watcher today … Selected works from 216 on dirt and 29 on turf officially timed Sunday morning:  Dirt -- Masochistic (4f, :48.60), Beholder (5f, :59.20), Justin Squared (5f, :58.00), Stellar Wind (5f, 1:00.00); Turf – Entrechat (4f, :48.20), Monster Bea (4f, :49.60), Rocket Heat (4f, :51.20), Elektrum(5f, 1:01.80), Havanna Belle (5f, 1:03.60), Om (6f, 1:16.40).

 

 

 

(Current Through Saturday, July 23, 2016 Inclusive)

Jockey	Mts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Flavien Prat	42	8	3	3	19%	33%	$358,305
Santiago Gonzalez	38	7	4	8	18%	50%	$224,544
Kent Desormeaux	30	6	8	3	20%	57%	$409,960
Tyler Baze	38	5	4	7	13%	42%	$331,544
Victor Espinoza	16	5	4	2	31%	69%	$367,923
Rafael Bejarano	25	4	7	4	16%	60%	$405,566
Mario Gutierrez	20	4	2	1	20%	35%	$185,027
Gary Stevens	14	3	3	0	21%	43%	$238,330
Mike Smith	19	2	3	5	11%	53%	$213,790
Stewart Elliott	22	2	2	1	9%	23%	$70,745

 

 

(Current Through Saturday, July 23, 2016 Inclusive)

Trainer	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	In-money%	Money Won
Philip D'Amato	13	5	2	0	38%	54%	$414,456
Mark Glatt	12	4	2	3	33%	75%	$140,550
John W. Sadler	12	3	2	3	25%	67%	$173,300
Richard Baltas	11	3	2	2	27%	64%	$199,936
Doug F. O'Neill	23	3	1	2	13%	26%	$117,440
Neil D. Drysdale	8	3	0	1	38%	50%	$133,224
Brian J. Koriner	7	2	3	0	29%	71%	$79,290
James M. Cassidy	14	2	2	3	14%	50%	$127,892
Steven Miyadi	8	2	2	1	25%	63%	$94,165
Peter Miller	20	2	1	3	10%	30%	$166,095

 

 

(Current Through Saturday, July 23, 2016 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 21 out of 63 -- 33.33%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 14 out of 41 -- 34.15%

Winning favorites on turf -- 7 out of 22 -- 31.82%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 4 out of 6 -- 66.67%

In-the-Money favorites -- 46 out of 63 -- 73.02%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 5 out of 6 -- 83.33%

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793