By Jim Charvat

Hoist the Gold © Benoit Photo

SHIPPERS DROP IN FOR SHOT AT BREEDERS’ CUP IN G1 BING CROSBY

A trio of invaders have shipped-in for today’s G1 Bing Crosby, adding some spice to an already contentious race. Sibelius will run for trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer; Hoist the Gold for Dallas Stewart and Peaceful Waters for John Sadler.

Sibelius started the year with a win in the $75,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, then flew overseas and captured the G1 Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup undercard, beating the likes of Switzerland and Gunite. He returned stateside but ran a lackluster fourth in the G3 Aristides at Churchill Downs as Gunite turned the tables on him.

“He came out of the race a little jarred-up,” O’Dwyer says. “We put a line through that one. I don’t know if he didn’t love the track or he bounced a little from Dubai. But he’s bouncing here in the morning and training great.”

He says New York was an option for the 5-year old son of Not This Time and several factors came into play in their decision to come out west.

 “To get away from Elite Power,” O’Dwyer jokes. “No, he travels really well and seems to get over most tracks really well. We had him training in Florida and the race has been on our horizon for a while since it’s a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the Breeders’ Cup.

“The owners are quite happy to come out here,” O’Dwyer continued. “It was either here or the Vanderbilt (at Saratoga). He’s a Grade One winner and we’re kind of keen to get him back at this level again.”

Hoist the Gold has shown flashes of brilliance in two of his last three races.

“He’s coming off a super race at Ellis Park and he had a second to Cody’s Wish,” Stewart says. “He’s shipped in great and he’s doing terrific.”

That runner-up finish to Cody’s Wish came in the G1 Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Hoist the Gold followed that with an eighth-place finish in the G1 Met Mile at Belmont Park, but bounced back with the allowance win at Ellis Park earlier this month. The Bing Crosby will be the 4-year-old son of Mineshaft’s eighth different track in his last eight races.

Like O’Dwyer with Sibelius, the decision to come to Del Mar came down to New York or California for Stewart.

“We were either going to Saratoga or looking at this,” Stewart says. “This is a ‘Win and You’re In.’ It’s a terrific race, a Grade One…a lot of money and this is where we wanted to be, take a shot.”

Stewart also brought out Hoist the Gold’s regular jockey, Brian Hernandez, Jr.

“He’s had success on the horse,” Stewart says. “He knows the horse and we’re happy to have him.”

Del Mar’s “Ship & Win” program also comes into play with these two horses since this will be their first race in California. They’ll receive the $5,000 bonus just for running, which will defray some of the shipping costs. There’s no purse supplement with a graded stakes race, however.

Unlike O’Dwyer, who is at Del Mar for the first time, Stewart has run horses here before.

“I won a little race called the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with Forever Unbridled (2017),” Stewart says.

A third horse is also shipping-in for the Bing Crosby. Peaceful Waters runs for trainer Sadler and the 4-year old son of Dialed In is coming off of a second-level allowance win at Keeneland this spring.

The Bing Crosby is the 10^th of 11 races Saturday at Del Mar. Approximate post time is 6:30 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Hoist the Gold (Hernandez, Jr., 20-1); Spirit of Makena (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Todo Fino (Edwin Maldonado, 20-1); The Chosen Vron (Hector Berrios, 4-1); Kid Corleone (Tiago Pereira, 20-1); Get Her Number (Mike Smith, 15-1); Anarchist (Ramon Vasquez, 4-1); C Z Rocket (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1); Sibelius (Mario Guttierrez, 6-1); American Theorem (Umberto Rispoli, 8-1); Dr. Schivel (Juan Hernandez, 7/2) and Peaceful Waters (Antonio Fresu, 15-1).

GOLD PHOENIX, BALNIKHOV RETURN TO DEL MAR IN G2 EDDIE READ

If there’s a graded stakes on the Del Mar turf this summer, you can bet trainer Philip D’Amato will be an active participant. He’s becoming the West Coast’s version of Chad Brown. He comes with a barn packed full of talented turf runners and he’s not afraid to put one up against the other.

This Sunday’s G2 Eddie Read, a mile and an eighth test for horses 3-years-old and up on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, is a good case in point. D’Amato has entered no less than four in the nine-horse field. There’s Gold Phoenix, last year’s G2 Del Mar Handicap winner; Balnikhov, last year’s Oceanside Stakes winner; Masteroffoxhounds, winner of the 2022 G2 John Henry at Santa Anita, and Count Again, 2022’s G1 Shoemaker Mile winner.

Gold Phoenix comes into the Eddie Read off of a disappointing seventh-place finish in this year’s Shoemaker Mile.

“He’s kind of a Jekyl and Hyde horse,” D’Amato says. “When you expect him to run a huge race he’ll just run average. But he’s been training extremely well and he’s run some big races on this Del Mar turf course.”

Balnikhov also likes the turf course at Del Mar. He came back from his Oceanside win to run a close fourth in the G2 Del Mar Derby, losing by just 1 ¼ lengths to Slow Down Andy. Since then he’s scored a couple of Grade 3’s, the Bryan Station at Keeneland last October and the San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields in April. He also missed by a nose to One More Bid in the G2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita the day after Christmas. But, like his stablemate, he threw in a clunker last out in the Shoemaker Mile.

Masteroffoxhounds hasn’t won since his victory in the John Henry but he followed that race with a close third in the G2 Seabiscuit at Del Mar, missing by just a neck in a blanket finish with Hong Kong Harry and Beyond Brilliant. He started his 6-year-old campaign with another close call. Stablemate Prince Abama beat him by a neck in the G3 San Marcos. He hasn’t raced since April when he finished fifth in the G2 Charles Whittingham.

Finally there’s Count Again, who’s been idle since he won the Shoemaker Mile in May of last year.

So why run them all in the same race?

“That’s where they all fit,” D’Amato says, “so that’s where they’re all going to run. They’re all training very well. You train them up all the same way the best you possibly can and whoever gets the best trip decides who wins.”

While it would appear D’Amato has a corner on the market in the Eddie Read, there are a couple of contenders who are quite capable of pulling off the upset.

Mackinnon is back on the West Coast following a stint back east where he posted a runner-up finish in the G2 Hill Prince at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet last October.

“The owners wanted to give the east coast a try,” trainer Doug O’Neill says. “I think at the end of the day the owners think he’ll appreciate the firm ground of the west coast again opposed to the softer grass back east.”

Cabo Spirit, winner of last year’s G3 La Jolla at Del Mar, is also entered in the Eddie Read as well as Dicey Mo Chara, winner of the G2 San Gabriel earlier this year at Santa Anita.

The 50^th running of the G2 Eddie Read will be the ninth of 11 races on Sunday’s card. Approximate post time is 6 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds. I’mgonnabesomebody (Kyle Frey, 20-1); Gold Phoenix (Berrios, 4-1); Balnikhov (Fresu, 4-1); Masteroffoxhounds (Maldonado, 8-1); Dicey Mo Chara (Hernandez, (6-1); Cabo Spirit (Bravo, 5-1); Handy Dandy (Vasquez, 12-1); Mackinnon (Pereira, 8-1) and Count Again (Rispoli, 3-1).

RISPOLI BRINGS INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO JOCKEY COLONY

Jockey Umberto Rispoli loves riding at Del Mar. And it shows. Since arriving at the seaside oval in the summer of 2020, he has never finished out of the top five in the jockey standings. Twice he’s finish second, including a meet-long donnybrook with Flavien Prat in 2020 that Rispoli lost on the final day, 50-to-49. He was a distant runner-up to Juan Hernandez last summer.

Those close calls haven’t dampened his enthusiasm and so far he leads the jockey standings at Del Mar’s summer meet with seven victories going into Saturday’s card. In fact, he looks back with pride on the riding dual with Prat in 2020.

“It was one of the finest battles they’ve ever seen here,” Rispoli says. “I didn’t expect that at that time because it was my first meet and I didn’t know what was expected of me, but to finish the meet with 49 winners was pretty good.”

At Santa Anita the winter/spring before arriving at Del Mar, Rispoli won 50 races so his career in the U.S got off to a rousing start. But then again the native of Italy came to America with some impressive credentials. He holds the record in Italy for most wins in a season and boasts several riding titles.

“The good target at Del Mar is to find a good horse that’s going to the Breeders’ Cup,” he says, “and to have a solid meeting. Keep the bar for winning high. That’s the key.

“I’m trying to win as many good races as I can,” Rispoli continues. “If the title is an option, we can try to win the title but the priority is to find some nice 2-year-olds, win some big races and prepare for the road to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Rispoli has ridden in one Breeders’ Cup during his brief career in the U.S. He finished second on Smooth Like Strait in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.

In April of last year, business was waning up at Santa Anita so Rispoli decided to move his tack east. At first he was going to New York, but he called an audible and went to Kentucky instead. There he found even fewer opportunities. He had difficulty finding quality rides and after only a couple of months he decided to return to Southern California where his wife and two children had remained.

“It was tough for me when I came back from Kentucky,” Rispoli says. “I lost a lot of business and you know, once you’re gone you have to rebuild everything again. But Matt has been doing a great job and now we’re riding for a lot of people.”

Matt Nakatani is Rispoli’s agent and over a year later Rispoli says business is good and he’s setting his sights on closing the gap between him and his chief rival, Juan Hernandez, who he admires and respects as a fellow rider.

“Juan has done a terrific job to keep winning,“ Rispoli says. “But I would like to give him a challenge. Otherwise it’s going to be boring. I think I can be a tough customer for him.”

As for the rest of the jockey colony, Rispoli, who has ridden everywhere, from France to the Czech Republic, from Japan to South Africa, says the Del Mar jockey colony is on the improve.

“The colony is getting tough and stronger,” Rispoli says. “At the end of the day you need to ride a good horse, that’s what you need. You can be a good rider but if they put you on a 100-1 horse or 50-1 at the end of the day you’re not going to win any races.

“I think the competition is open with everybody,” he continues. “We just need to be focused. It’s a short meet, intense, and the less mistakes you make the more races you can win.”

COOLING OUT:  Amy C came out her win in Friday’s $100,000 Daisycutter Handicap in “good shape.”  Trainer Phil D’Amato says he’s not sure what’s next for the English-bred daughter of Charming Thought…Twilight Gleaming, the post time favorite in the Daisycutter, also came out of the race in good order. She finished seventh after getting cutoff in midstretch, then got moved up to sixth following an inquiry. Blake Heap, assistant trainer to Wesley Ward, says the filly will hang out at Del Mar for at least a couple of days while the connections decide where to go with her next…1^st Racing’s Millie Ball and Michelle Yu will take over hosting Del Mar’s simulcast show for the next three weeks. The popular personalities and handicappers will take the reins starting August 5. It’s a collaborative effort between the two Southern California entities, 1^st Racing and Del Mar…Notable works on Saturday: Dirt – Eda (4f, :48.60); Stilleto Boy (4f, :48.20); Fort Bragg (5f, :59.80); Kirstenbosch (5f, 1:00.00) and Queen ofthe Temple (5f, 1:04.20). A total of 176 horses posted official works.

Del Mar Statistics

 Jockey Standings
(Current Through July 28, 2023 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings
(Current Through July 28, 2023 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through July 28, 2023 Inclusive)

 Winning favorites -- 14 out of 48 -- 29.17%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 9 out of 28 -- 32.14%
Winning favorites on turf -- 5 out of 20 -- 25.00%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 1 out of 4 -- 25.00%
In-the-Money favorites -- 31 out of 48 -- 64.58%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 3 out of 4 -- 75.00%