Air Strike © Benoit Photo

AIR STRIKE, ARROYO AIM TO PUNCTUATE DEL MAR RETURNS IN CROSBY

The victory in the Grade II Triple Bend Handicap on May 25 at Santa Anita that stamped Air Strike as a contender for Saturday’s Grade I $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes was also meaningful for the man in the saddle, Norberto Arroyo, Jr.

It was the first stakes victory for Arroyo in a comeback from two largely fallow years, marked by injury and personal issues, that followed a promising West Coast move from New York in 2016.

Air Strike and Arroyo will team up again Saturday in the Crosby, a six-furlong race that often determines the meeting champion in the sprint division and is also a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Santa Anita.

Air Strike, the 4-1 third choice on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line behind Recruiting Ready (2-1) and Cistron (5-2) will be making his second Del Mar start. The first was an impressive 6 ¼-length maiden-breaking score in his first start for trainer Phil D’Amato after going 0-for-3 for trainer Steve Asmussen. A 4-year-old, Kentucky-bred son of Street Sense, Air Strike followed his first win with another at Santa Anita, then lost four straight, under three different jockeys, before the Triple Bend.

“We kind of entered in that race at the last minute and the guys who had ridden him before already had mounts,” D’Amato recalled Friday morning. “Norberto was breezing a lot of horses for us that day, so we asked him and that’s how he got on the horse.

“He gave him a perfect ride, coming from behind and maybe we learned something about the horse that day. He’s been around two turns, but maybe he’s best around one turn.”

Last of eight early on in the seven-furlong Triple Bend, Air Strike rallied to edge fellow Crosby entrant Cistron by a head at the wire.

Arroyo arrived in California five days before the 2016 Del Mar summer meeting, with few contacts here. At its end, he had notched four stakes victories, most notably the Del Mar Derby on Free Rose, and was in the Top 10 in the jockey standings.

He returned for the Fall racing season and claimed the riding championship with 12 victories. But injuries - most recently a broken ankle that required three surgeries – and off-track problems kept him from building upon the 2016 success here.

“He’s always been a quality rider,” D’Amato said. Arroyo was a top rider on the New York circuit in the early 2000s and has more than 1,300 career victories.

“He’d be the first to tell you he’s had his issues,” D’Amato said.  “But he’s in a good place right now, he’s working hard, has a good attitude and is adamant about being one of the top riders again.”

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).

LA FORCE, PARADISE WOODS RENEW RIVALRY IN HIRSCH

In the Grade II Santa Margarita  Handicap at Santa Anita on April 27, Paradise Woods routed six rivals, leaving even runner-up La Force 10 ½-lengths behind. So it was no wonder that, when only three showed up to take her on in the Grade II Santa Maria on June 1, Paradise Woods was 1-5 and La Force 5-1.

La Force turned the tables, winning by 1 ¼ lengths. What accounts for  a 12-length reversal when the second race is 110 yards shorter than the first? La Force trainer Paddy Gallagher is strictly a realist.

“We were really happy with her winning, but as everyone could see the other filly (Paradise Woods) stumbled leaving the gate,” Gallagher said Friday morning. “(Paradise Woods) really ran super the time before, but for whatever reason she stumbled and that made the difference.”

The 1 1/16-mile Clement L. Hirsch, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff, has showcased the talents of Beholder (2015), Stellar Wind (2016-17) and Unique Bella (2018) in the last four years. Excellent company for Paradise Woods, La Force or any of the five other entrants to join.

“(La Force) seems to be acting herself, we’re happy with the way she’s coming into it,” Gallagher said. “I’ll just leave the strategy up to the jockey (Drayden Van Dyke) we’ll see what happens when the gate opens and hope to get lucky.”

The field from the rail with the morning line issued Friday by oddsmaker Russ Hudak: La Force (Drayden Van Dyke, 3-1), Just a Smidge (Martin Garcia, 15-1), Secret Spice (Flavien Prat, 2-1), Ollie’s Candy (Kent Desormeaux, 5-1), Paradise Woods (Mike Smith, 8-5), Queen Bee To You (Ruben Fuentes, 20-1) and Spring in the Wind (Rafael Bejarano, 20-1).

LEAVE IT TO EDDIE HASKELL WHEN IT COMES TO TURF SPRINTS

The victory by Eddie Haskell in the first race on Wednesday was the seventh in 11 starts, and the third in a row, since Mark Glatt claimed the 6-year-old son of Square Eddie for $50,000 in April of last year.

Which makes Glatt, and the legion of racing fans who follow the horse named for a memorable secondary character in the classic “Leave It To Beaver” TV series, very happy.

Eddie Haskell had been away from racing for just over a year when Glatt put in the successful claim at Santa Anita. Glatt liked what he’d seen of ‘Eddie,’ who had run 11 times, and despite the layoff liked his prospects as a turf sprinter. The wins at 5 furlongs on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course here – one at the summer meeting and two in the fall – bolstered the notion.

Then came the ill-fated Santa Anita meeting and a decision to switch some stakes from the unique 6 ½-furlong downhill turf course with its crossing of the dirt main track, to five furlongs. Eddie Haskell won both the Grade III Daytona and the  Siren Lure.

“To be honest, we got lucky,” Glatt said. “I don’t know if he would have done as well down the hill, so that worked in our favor.”

Wednesday’s five-furlong turf sprint victory was a prep for the identically conditioned Grade III $100,000 Green Flash Handicap. Success there could lead to the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at, naturally, five furlongs at Santa Anita.

While the Eddie Haskell character on TV was the personification of the word “smarmy,” Glatt says the horse is “cool.” There was talk of getting the horse and Ken Osmond, the actor who played Eddie Haskell, together for some publicity photos. Glatt’s in favor of it.

EIGHT ENTERED FOR WEDNESDAY’S CTBA STAKES

Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred’s Bulletproof One, a winner of her first two starts by a combined 17 ¼ lengths, tops a field of eight entered for the featured $100,000 CTBA Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies as Week III of the meeting begins on Wednesday.

Trained by Peter Miller, the daughter of standout sprinter Idiot Proof tries the Southern California circuit after notching wins at Golden Gate Fields and Pleasanton.

The field from the rail: Roses for Laura (Edgar Payeras), Bulletproof One (Norberto  Arroyo, Jr.), None of Your Biz (Aaron Gryder), Bella Renella (Agapito Delgadillo), Wise Rachel (Joe Talamo), Unchain Her Heart (Edwin Maldonado), Cholula Lips (Rafael Bejarano) and Acai (Mario Gutierrez).

CLOSERS – Selected works from 113 officially timed Friday morning: Bellerin (3f, :34.40), Anonymity 4f, :46.60), Zestful (4f, :47.60), Schrodinger (5f, :59.60) … Happy Birthday No. 53 to jockey Agapito Delgadillo, Jr.

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Thursday, July 25, 2019 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Thursday, July 25, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Thursday, July 25, 2019 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 25 out of 57 -- 43.86%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 15 out of 33 -- 45.45%

Winning favorites on turf -- 10 out of 24 -- 41.67%

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

In-the-Money favorites -- 43 out of 57 -- 75.44%

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