Escape Clause © Benoit Photo

ESCAPE CLAUSE GOES TO RED CARPET HOPING TO SCORE A 10

Escape Clause, the Canadian filly who extended her win streak to nine in the opening day Kathryn Crosby Stakes – albeit via disqualification – has booked a Del Mar return engagement in Thursday’s Grade III, $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes.

Owner/trainer Don Schnell nominated the 4-year-old daughter of Going Commando to both the Red Carpet and the Grade I $300,000 Matriarch on closing day, December 2, but confirmed Sunday that the Red Carpet is the race of choice.

“She came back so good (from the Kathryn Crosby) that I’m going to give her a shot in the Red Carpet,” Schnell said from his Phoenix base. “I looked at the Matriarch, but there’s too many bears in there.

“She showed she can compete with those (stakes level) horses there and can run on the turf. Now we’ll see if she can go the mile and three-eighths.”

Escape Clause brought an eight-race winning streak, forged mainly at tracks in Manitoba and Alberta, Canada, into the one-mile Kathryn Crosby and ran on turf for the first time in a 25-race career. Ridden by Ruben Fuentes, Escape Clause finished a half-length behind Excellent Sunset, but was moved up to first after stewards ruled a bumping incident in the stretch had cost her a placing.

So the filly that Schnell purchased for $3,200 at a sale in Manitoba extended the winning streak and increased her career earnings to $345,500.

The Red Carpet comes up only 13 days after the Crosby and at a distance that’s a quarter-mile farther than she has raced before, but Schnell said he believes Escape Clause can be up to the task.

“I think so,” Schnell said, “she’s learned to relax and that’s really important at longer distances.”

Fuentes, who picked up the mount on Escape Clause just before the post position draw for the Kathryn Crosby, will be back in the saddle.

“Ruben is a good kid and a good rider,” Schnell said.

Despite the winning streak, Escape Clause was largely overlooked in the betting and returned $39.40 for a $2 win bet in the Kathryn Crosby. “I don’t think you’ll get that this time,” Schnell said.

The field from the rail: Victress (Joe Talamo), Pantsonfire (Geovanni Franco), Vexatious (Rafael Bejarano), The Tulip (Drayden Van Dyke), India Mantuana (Tyler Baze), Siberian Iris (Flavien Prat), Lucy De (Kent Desormeaux), So Hi Society (Tiago Pereira) and Escape Clause (Ruben Fuentes).

The Red Carpet will be the featured event, the sixth on an eight-race Thanksgiving Day card that will have an early first post of 11 a.m.

EDWARDS  GOING LEFT IS GOING TO BE TOUGH AGAIN IN CARY GRANT

Edwards Going Left is the horse to beat in Sunday’s $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes. And if you’re in need of reasons why that’s the case, trainer John Sadler has them.

“He won it last year. It’s a good distance for him. And he’s going against California-breds rather than open company,” Sadler said Saturday morning from Santa Anita. “He’s a legitimate favorite who has trained well for the race.”

A 4-year-old gelded son of Midnight Lute, Edwards Going Left prevailed by a half-length over Solid Wager in the 2017 running of the seven-furlong main track test for state breds. In six starts since then, the Hronis Racing Inc. colorbearer has one win and has been off the board only twice – fourth place efforts against world class sprinters Ransom the Moon in the Grade I Bing Crosby here July 28 and Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion Roy H in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship last month.

“He’s well spotted,” Sadler said. “There are some good horses, but no Roy H or Ransom the Moon.”

The field from the rail: Tough But Nice (Geovanni Franco, 12-1), Touching Rainbows (Flavien Prat, 5-2), Edwards Going Left (Tyler Baze, 2-1), Solid Wager (Drayden Van Dyke, 4-1), Brandothebartender (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Minoso (Gary Stevens, 30-1), Shades of Victory (Martin Pedroza, 12-1), Ann Arbor Eddie (Mario Gutierrez, 5-1) and Grecian Fire (Rafael Bejarano, 10-1).

The Red Carpet will be the featured event on an eight-race Thanksgiving Day card that will have an early first post of 11 a.m.

Sadler provided an update on his three divisional champions from the summer meeting - Horse of the Meeting Accelerate, top sprinter Catalina Cruiser and top grass horse Catapult:

Accelerate will begin light training and eventually breezing at Santa Anita in December for his final race, the $9 million Pegasus World Cup on January 26 at Gulfstream Park in Florida. Catapult will be on a similar schedule targeting the inaugural $7 million turf race on Pegasus World Cup Day.

Catalina Cruiser is being given time off for a planned return to racing in the spring. There is “an excellent chance” Sadler said that Catalina Cruiser and Catapult will race at Del Mar in the summer of  2019.

MILLER REACHES 1,000 MILESTONE, LOOKS TO START ON ROAD TO 2,000

Trainer Peter Miller notched win No. 1,000 in his 31-year career on Friday when Drayden Van Dyke guided Haydens Havoc to a 1 ½-length victory in the third race.

The victory touched off a winner’s circle celebration in which Miller was joined by his wife Lani and sons Jacob, 6, and Seth, 4, initially and later by Del Mar officials who  presented him with a sign commemorating the event.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Miller said. “It took a lot of years to get there and a lot of hard work. I’ve got a great team behind me, from my family to the people who work for me in the stable, to the owners. I’m thankful to them all.

“Lets see if we can get another 1,000.”

To that end, Miller has five entered on the eight-race Saturday card.

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE INTRIGUING FOR PENDING STAKES TSUNAMI

The wave of eight graded stakes over the final eight days of the meeting and while nominations aren’t commitments to run, even a glance at the ones scheduled next week triggers thoughts of intriguing possibilities.

Grade III $100,000 Red Carpet, Handicap, Thursday, November 22 – Escape Clause tries to extend her winning streak to 10.

Grade II $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup,  Friday, November 23 – Beach View, last seen winning the 1 1/2 –mile Cougar II Handicap here on dirt in July, tries the distance on the turf.

Grade III $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes, Saturday, November 24 – Doug O’Neill has three nominated the most interesting, at least on paper, being Irish-bred Cedars of Lebanon, making her U.S. debut after wins in her native land in September and October.

Grade II $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap, Saturday, November 24 – Hunt, recovered from a minor illness that kept him out of the Breeders’ Cup returns to battle invaders from the East and overseas.

Grade III $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes, Sunday, November 25 – Trainer Geoge Weaver and owners Jim and Susan Hill, who shipped in to win the Jimmy Durante last year with Daddy Is a Legend, try to do it again with maiden Noble Nebraskan.

Grade III $100,000 Native Diver, Sunday, November 25 – Battle of Midway. Enough said.

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Friday, November 16, 2018 Inclusive)

 Trainer Standings

(Current Through Friday, November 16, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Friday, November 16, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 14 out of 50 -- 28.00%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 6 out of 29 -- 20.69%

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

Winning odds-on favorites -- 3 out of 9 -- 33.33%

In-the-Money favorites -- 32 out of 50 -- 64.00%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 6 out of 9 -- 66.67%