CROSBY IS TRAINER’S FIRST DEL MAR RACE; FAR FROM HIS FIRST RODEO

Firmly formed white cowboy hat perched perfectly on his head, looking every inch the cowboy he was, and still is at 78, Shawn Davis sat astride a tack box in Barn Y here Thursday morning and talked about the horse in the stall to his right.

Davis, a Rodeo Hall of Fame member who also trains Thoroughbreds, is experiencing Del Mar for the first time. He’s here with Chief Cicatriz, who’ll go up against the fastest sprinters on the grounds in Saturday’s Grade I $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes.

“This horse has never been able to prove what I think he can do,” Davis said. “We were going to bring him here after he won the Aristides Stakes at Churchill, but then he had some problems we needed to take care of and it has taken us until now to get him to where he’s ready to run and really prove himself.”

A 6-year-old gelded son of Munnings, Chief Cicatriz has 10 wins from 15 career starts at tracks throughout the Midwest and as far West as Turf Paradise in Phoenix. The stocky chestnut’s lone graded stakes win was the Aristides. A Crosby score would add $180,000 to his $344,543 in career earnings and, as a “Win And You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, secure a spot in the $2 million race in November at Santa Anita.

Chief Cicatriz had issues after shipping for races in the past. But Davis said the horse arrived here comfortably on Sunday, July 14 and has been “loving” the 11 days on site. He worked four furlongs in :49.00 last Saturday.

“We were planning on flying him here and then the flight cancelled, so we decided to drive him,” Davis said.

Starting at Shakopee, Minnesota, travelling at night, the van stopped at facilities in Idaho and Montana where Davis has connections. For the stopover at Las Vegas, a friend at the South Pointe Hotel and Casino provided an entire air conditioned barn.

“So we got to exercise him all the way and it was a very relaxed trip,” Davis said.

The Crosby assignment will represent by far the toughest so far.

“It’s a very competitive field and there isn’t a bad horse in the race,” Davis said. “He likes to be close to the front. He will settle, but the speed has to go by him. Then he’ll go when he’s asked to run.”

Davis grew up in Whitehall, Montana and was competing in rodeos at kindergarten age. He did some racehorse jockey work but specialized in saddle bronc riding as a rodeo professional and won back-to-back world championships in 1967-68.

A broken back suffered in 1969 proved to be a setback, but not the career-ender it might have been and Davis returned to qualify for the national finals 12 times and was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.

When his days of competition ended, Davis hired on as coach of the College of Southern Idaho rodeo program – he was on the CSI faculty with former San Diego State basketball coach Fred Trenkle – and turned it into a national championship winner. Elected president of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in the 1980s, Davis was instrumental in negotiating the deal that moved the National Finals Rodeo from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas where it has boomed in public interest, aesthetic and financial success beyond wildest dreams.

For the present, however, he’s here with one horse, enjoying a first trip to Del Mar.

“The whole area is wonderful and we’ve been treated very well since we’ve been here,” Davis said. “It’s very classy. It’s what I think horse racing should be.”

The field from the rail: Calexman (Geovanni Franco, 15-1), Desert Law (Rafael Bejarano, 12-1), Cistron (Victor Espinoza, 5-2), Line Judge (Drayden Van Dyke 8-1), Air Strike (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 4-1), Chief Cicatriz (Ruben Fuentes, 12-1), Recruiting Ready (Flavien Prat, 2-1 ) and Jalen Journey (Mike Smith, 6-1).

PARADISE WOODS TOPS FIELD OF 7 IN SUNDAY’S CLEMENT L. HIRSCH

Poised to top the $1 million mark in earnings, Paradise Woods tops a field of seven entered Thursday in Sunday’s Grade I $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

A 5-year-old daughter of Union Rags owned by HS Stable and Pam and Marty Wygod, Paradise Woods enters the 1 1/16-mile main track event for older fillies and mares with $985,890 in earnings from four wins and 10 on-the-board finishes in 15 career starts.

Trained by John Sherriffs, Paradise Woods has one win in four 2019 starts, all in Grade I or Grade II events. The victory was by an impressive 10 ½ lengths in the Grade II Santa Margarita in April at Santa Anita.

Four of Paradise Woods’ five rivals have extensive Southern California circuit backgrounds. Coming in from the east and making her Del Mar debut is Spring in the Wind, a 5-year-old Canadian-bred mare owned by Ron Paolucci and trained by Bob Hess, Jr.

“It’s a good opportunity for a Grade I placing for her,” Hess said. “We took the blinkers off her, so we think she’ll be able to relax and get the distance. She’s got speed, but with the blinkers off, I think she’ll be able to relax.”

The field from the rail: La Force (Drayden Van Dyke), Just a Smidge (Martin Garcia), Secret Spice (Flavien Prat), Ollie’s Candy (Kent Desormeaux), Paradise Woods (Mike Smith), Queen Bee To You (Ruben Fuentes) and Spring in the Wind (Rafael Bejarano).

CRUEL INTENTION FAVORED IN SATURDAY’S REAL GOOD DEAL

Bob Baffert-trained Cruel Intention was established as the 6-5 favorite on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line for Saturday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes for  California-bred 3-year-olds.

A son of Smiling Tiger, Cruel Intention was undefeated in two starts as a 2-year-old last fall with the second coming in the $195,000 Golden State Juvenile. Given a seven-month break, he split a field of eight in a Santa Anita allowance in June but has fired bullets in two works leading up to the Real Good Deal.

From the rail: Lieutenant Dan (Drayden Van Dyke, 2-1), Cruel Intention (Joe Talamo, 6-5), Prodigal Son (Mario Gutierrez, 4-1), Oliver (Martin Garcia, 12-1) and Posterize (Flavien Prat, 4-1).

SADLER TIES FRANKEL FOR STAKES WINS, WHITTINGHAM IN SIGHT

The victory by Campaign in Wednesday’s Cougar II Handicap was the third of the young meeting and the 70^th in the career at Del Mar for trainer John Sadler. It tied Sadler for fourth on the track’s all-time stakes victories by a trainer.

“He was a great trainer, one of the greatest trainers in California for a long time,” Sadler said of Frankel, who died in 2009. “I didn’t realize I’d tied him with those 70 stakes. That’s a nice thing to learn.”

Sadler’s rise up the list was steady from 2015-17 when he totaled nine wins. It took a major leap with eight stakes wins in 2018 and the three this year figures to be only the start given the abundance of stars in the barn.

Having caught one Hall of Famer, Sadler has two others within sight. Charlie Whittingham is third all-time with 74 stakes wins and Ron McAnally is second with 77. Bob Baffert may be uncatchable with 128 stakes wins and prospects for adding on this and every year.

MAINARDI, ALVAREZ GUEST ON WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS

Joe Mainardi of Ponypicker.com and Sean Alvarez, a handicapping tournament player fresh off a runner-up finish in last weekend’s event here, will serve as guests in the handicapping seminars for Week II of the meeting.

Mainardi will provide selections and comments on Saturday while Alvarez joins host Frank Scatoni on Sunday.

The seminars are held from 12:45-1:40 at the Seaside Terrace near the top of the stretch. 

CLOSERS – Selected works from 131 on dirt and 12 on turf officially timed Thursday morning: Dirt – Show It N Moe It (3f, :35.80), Royal Thunder (4f, :47.00), Boujie Girl (5f, 1:02.00), Eight Rings (5f, 1:00.00), Flor de la Mar (5f, 1:00.00), Marley’s Freedom (6f, 1:12.60); Turf – Lemoona (4f, :48.00).  

 DEL MAR STATISTICS 

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 20 out of 50 -- 40.00%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 12 out of 29 -- 41.38%

Winning favorites on turf -- 8 out of 21 -- 38.10%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 7 out of 9 -- 77.78%

In-the-Money favorites -- 38 out of 50 -- 76.00%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 9 out of 9 -- 100.00%