Cairo Memories © Eclipse Sportswire / Breeders' Cup
DESORMEAUX-HESS COMBO AIMS TO CLICK - IN ‘CUP AND BEYOND
In 1991, Robert B. Hess, Jr., won the first of back-to-back Del Mar training titles. In 1992, Hess’ championship cohort was jockey Kent Desormeaux, who would score his first of back-to-back riding titles and rack up 135 wins in the two-year span.
A lot has happened in the 30 years since.
Desormeaux, 51, has notched victories in three Kentucky Derbies, three Preakness and a Belmont Stakes. He has six Breeders’ Cup wins, three Eclipse Awards and has held membership in racing’s Hall of Fame since 2004. With two wins Sunday at Santa Anita, Equibase statistics show him with 6,101 career victories from 32,413 mounts in a 35-year career.
Hess, 56, has gone nationwide with strings in Kentucky and Florida. But the native of Chula Vista has remained headquartered in Southern California and unabashedly citing Del Mar as holding a special place in his heart.
“Del Mar is my paradise,” Hess said Sunday. It is, after all, the place that provided him with his first winner (Palapiano, July 31, 1987), first training title in 1991 and first graded stakes winner (River Special, 1992 Del Mar Futurity).
And as they have over the years, Desormeaux and Hess are hoping to make headlines again when they team up with Cairo Memories in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Chaos Theory in the Turf Sprint during Breeders’ Cup weekend.
“I’ve got gray hair and he’s got a couple of wrinkles, but hopefully we’re older, wiser and hopefully a little better,” Hess said. “But we have the A-team back together and we’re looking forward to it.”
Cairo Memories, a daughter of Cairo Prince, was pre-entered in the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile Fillies Turf and will go in the $1 million, one mile grass event. She is 2-for-2 in a career begun at Del Mar on September 5 and comes in off a win in the Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita on October 3.
“Cairo is splendid, a wonderful, gifted filly and just a pleasure to be around,” Hess said. “Unless the jock screws it up (with a wink toward Desormeaux), I think we’ll get the money.”
Chaos Theory, like Cairo Memories owned by David Bernsen and partners, is a 6-year-old gelded son of Curlin. He has six wins in 18 starts with earnings of $359,454. Chaos Theory is 0-for-5 in 2021 but won both his career starts at Del Mar – the Green Flash in August and an optional claimer in November of 2020. Desormeaux was aboard for the first time in a third-place finish in the Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita on October 1.
Chaos Theory is one of 19 pre-entered in the $1 million, five-furlong event.
“Chaos, if he gets in, will run fantastic,” Hess said. “I’ve tweaked a few things, Kent knows him even better and it will be at his favorite distance on his favorite turf course.”
Desormeaux has one other Breeders’ Cup mount lined up, Oviatt Class in the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for his trainer/brother Keith.
MOONLIGHT d’ORO APPEARS FORMIDABLE IN OPENING DAY FEATURE
MyRacehorse or Spendthrift Farm’s Moonlight d’Oro looms large in a field of six for the $100,000 Seashell Stakes, the featured event on Wednesday, opening day of the eighth Bing Crosby Season at Del Mar.
The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, a $620,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, has not raced since winning the Grade III Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita in February. But the trainee of Hall of Famer Richard Mandella comes into the mile run on the main track off a solid series of works at Santa Anita, among them a bullet six furlongs in 1:13 handily on October 21.
Top rider Flavien Prat will be aboard for a third straight time.
The field from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Clockstrikestwelve (Jose Ortiz, 4-1); Moonlight d’Oro (Prat, 8/5); Paige Anne (Kyle Frey, 4-1); Lisette (Umberto Rispoli, 8-1); Miss Fia (Jessica Pyfer, 8-1), and Livingmybestlife (Juan Hernandez, 5/2).
COMING IN HOT: TOPS IN SoCAL, U.S. AND WORLD HEADED HERE
By design the Breeders’ Cup World Championships bring together the best riders and horsemen from around the globe. Here’s a quick look at the those topping the statistics lists to start the week, many of whom will be here before, during and after the two-day Breeders’ Cup event on Friday and Saturday.
Jockeys: Flavien Prat continued his domination of the Southern California circuit by following up the summer title at Del Mar with one at the 2021 fall Santa Anita meeting. Prat recorded 28 wins at the meeting which ended Sunday, 13 more than runner-up Juan Hernandez.
Nationally the top five by money earnings according to Equibase through Sunday are: Joel Rosario ($25.9 million), Irad Ortiz, Jr. ($24.0m), Luis Saez ($22.3m), Prat ($20.1) and Jose Ortiz ($19.3m).
Rosario, Prat and Jose Ortiz have all booked mounts on the opening day program as have Hall of Famer John Velasquez and Ricardo Santana, Jr., who is No. 7 on the national list.
Top international riders Ryan Moore, William Buick and Lanfranco Dettori figure to make their presence known, especially in the turf races where European-based horses often excel, on the Breeders’ Cup days.
The competition will be spirited.
“To me, it’s like (golf’s) Ryder Cup,” Dettori told Union-Tribune columnist Bryce Miller. “It’s us versus the U.S. We come to your backyard. I know how much it means to me…
“I feel like the captain of Europe. In slang, I want to go out and kick ass. I don’t like to lose to the Americans and they feel the same. There’s definitely a rivalry there. It’s respectful, but I want to beat them and they want to beat us.”
TRAINERS – Doug O’Neill won the Santa Anita training title with by a comfortable margin, saddling 19 winners from 72 starters to 10 for perennial Del Mar champion Peter Miller’s 62. Phil D’Amato, Richard Baltas, John Sadler and Bob Baffert notched eight wins each. All of the above have multiple Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants.
Nationally the top five by money earnings are Steve Asmussen ($26.2 million), Brad Cox ($24.8m), Chad Brown ($19.3m), Todd Pletcher ($18.2m) and Mike Maker ($12.7m). They’ll all be on hand and they figure to be heard from on the weekend as do international standouts Aiden O’Brien, Charlie Appleby and others from the largest international contingent in Cup history.
BREEDERS’ CUP XXXIV, DEL MAR I REVISITED
A look back at what happened on the corresponding days of Breeders’ Cup week when Del Mar hosted the event for the first time in 2017.
Monday, October 29 – Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate drew the rail in a field of 11 for the $6 million Classic. Jockey Mike Smith said he wasn’t concerned: “If you look back probably his best two races, the Travers and the Pegasus, he was in the one hole…I learned a long time ago, a real good horse makes a bad post a good one. We’ll see what happens.”
What happened five days later was Gun Runner, breaking from post No. 5, went straight to the lead and stayed there. Arrogate, the 2-1 favorite, ducked in at the start and was never a factor in finishing fifth.
CLOSERS – What are friends for department: Trainer Dale Romans faced a bit of a problem Sunday morning. The luggage of his life partner/assistant trainer/exercise rider Tammy Fox was delayed in transit and Romans was in need of someone for the final work at Del Mar for $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile entrant Giant Game. So Romans enlisted the services of Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who was in the irons as Giant Game covered four furlongs in :48.60. “I rode a perfect work on a horse that might beat me in the race,” said Desormeaux, who is scheduled to ride Oviatt Class for his brother Keith in the Juvenile. “I heard Keith’s assistant told Kent to work (Giant Game) in :45,” Romans said with a laugh. “But it all worked out. I got a perfect work from a Hall of Fame rider. For all we know, Tammy’s stuff is still in Dallas.”