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STRONG EASTERN CONTINGENT SEEN FOR STAKES BONANZA FINALE
Nominations closed Saturday at midnight for the seven graded stakes scheduled over the final four days of the meeting, November 29-December 1.
And while nomination is no guarantee of participation, the number of names on the list, among them a goodly number from trainers based in the East, portends fields of size and quality in events that range from Grade III to Grade I with purses from $100,000-$300,000.
A sneak peak in order of appearance.
Grade III, $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes, Thursday (Thanksgiving), November 28. The 1 3/8-mile turf marathon has 21 nominees. Among them are Phil D’Amato-trained Storm the Hill, second in the Yellow Ribbon here during the summer meeting and notable shippers Theodora B. for Michael Dickinson and Si Que Es Buena for H. Graham Motion. The latter two come off preps at Woodbine with the best result being a third for Theodora B in the Grade III Maple Leaf on November 2.
Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, Friday, November 29. The 1 ½-mile stamina tester on turf attracted 20 nominations. Seven are from the East with the most intriguing being Arklow for Brad Cox. Arklow was eighth behind Bricks and Mortar in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf. Richard Mandella-trained United, also nominated to this race, was the runner-in the BC Turf.
Grade III, $100,000 Jimmy Durante, Saturday, November 30. The turf mile for 2-year-old filllies has nominees from top Northern American trainer Chad Brown (Princesa Caroline) and four of his Eastern colleagues. Among them is Michael Stidham, who won the race last year with Elsa and could try for a second with Alms. Leonard Powell-trained Guitty, a French import who won impressively here on November 9, is one of the major local hopes.
Grade II $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap, Saturday, November 30. Among the potential invaders on the list of 19 nominees are Mark Casse’s Curlin’s Honor, Christophe Clement’s Gucci Factor and Brown’s Sacred Life. Curlin’s Honor and Sacred Life are graded stakes placed while New York-bred Gucci Factor has a Grade III win in the Poker at Aqueduct last June.
Grade I $300,000 Hollywood Derby, Saturday, November 30. The 1 1/8-mile turf test for 3-year-olds has been won by Brown twice in the five previous runnings and Brown appears serious in seeking a third. Aiming to go back-to-back after the success of Raging Bull in 2018, Brown has nominated Valid Point, winner of the Grade I Secretariat on Arlington Million Day; Digital Age, winner of the Grade I American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs, and Standard Deviation, third in the Grade II Hill Prince on October 5 at Belmont Park.
Grade III $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille, Sunday, December 1. Stidham has nominated three, among them unbeaten (2-for-2) Albert Park for the world power Godolphin Stable.
Grade I $300,000 Matriarch, Sunday, December 1. The co-signature event, with the Hollywood Derby, of the meeting, run at a mile on turf for older fillies and mares, has 16 nominees.
The headliner from the east is Casse-trained Got Stormy, runner-up to Uni, last year’s Matriarch winner, in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. Also listed are Juliet Foxtrot, runner-up in the John C. Mabee here and the First Lady at Keeneland for Brian Cox; Daddy Is A Legend, second in the 2018 Matriarch with an October prep at Keeneland under her belt; Significant Form, a winner of Grade II and Grade III events in New York for Brown; and Starship Jubilee, winner of the Grade I E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine last month for Kevin Attard. Of course, all shippers will have to deal with Neil Drysdale-trained Toinette, who comes in razor sharp with four wins in her last four starts, the most recent being the Goldikova at Santa Anita on November 3.
D’AMATO REMEMBERS CELEBRITY OWNER IRV NOREN
“He was a great guy to train for, full of stories, full of life,” trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday recalling major league baseball player Irv Noren. Noren died Friday at his Oceanside home, two weeks shy of his 95th birthday.
Noren played for six different teams and was on three World Series championship teams as an outfielder with the New York Yankees in the mid-1950s and two as a third base coach for the Oakland A’s in 1972-73.
D’Amato said he got to know Noren after being asked to train some 2-year-olds in which Noren was a part owner.
“He never had any big horses, but a lot of useful ones that we would claim, and run a few times,” D’Amato recalled. One was named Top Pops Pizza. “He was a big beautiful gray that never ran at a very high level, but that we had a lot of fun with.”
Like anyone would, D’Amato relished hearing the stories told by Noren, a Del Mar regular for decades after his playing and coaching days ended.
“It was great to hear him talk about his time with Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle,” D’Amato said. “He was the (post-games) chaperone for those guys and if he didn’t do his job, the Yankees were in trouble.”
One of the benefits of training for Noren, D’Amato said, was not only getting to meet him, but also his family. “I got to meet several of his family members and he actually made me feel like I was part of his family.”
HOPE WIN PUTS VAN DYKE ONE UP IN JOCKEY STANDINGS
A victory in Saturday’s Bob Hope Stakes aboard High Velocity allowed Drayden Van Dyke to break the tie with Abel Cedillo and take a 7-6 lead into the final day of Week II of the meeting.
High Velocity withstood a determined challenge from race favorite Strongconstitution, ridden by Cedillo, to pull away by 1 ¼ lengths in the 7-furlong, Grade III event and cross under the wire in 1:23.16.
“I was loaded all the way,” Van Dyke said afterward. “I told Bob (trainer Bob Baffert) that he was just hitting his best stride when we went past the wire.”
Said Cedillo: “At the three-eighths (pole), I thought I had the horse (to win). But he just got a little tired at the end.
The win was the third of the meeting for Baffert and moved him to within one of the trio atop the standings- Peter Miller (4 for 14), Richard Baltas (4/17) and Vladimir Cerin (4/5). In addition to Baffert, Peter Eurton and Mike Puype also have three wins.
CLOSERS- While live racing has been cancelled on Thursday, wagering will be available on other tracks at the Mission Tower on site from 9 a.m. to the last race at Golden Gate Fields, approximately 4:45 p.m…Saturday’s victory by League of Shadows ($13.20) in the fourth race was a first at Del Mar, with her first starter here, for trainer Kerri Raven and also No. 1 for jockey Francisco Arrieta and owner George Sharp. Raven is from Phoenix. Arrieta is based in New Mexico…Jockey Martin Garcia posted a farewell victory on King Abner ($3.40) in Saturday’s second race. The 35-year-old native of Mexico, whose 27 Del Mar stakes victories were capped by the 2017 Pacific Classic aboard Collected, departs Tuesday for Kentucky and the Midwest circuit…Hall of Fame rider Kent Desormeaux has also chosen to head east. Desormeaux has relocated to his home state of Louisiana and is riding at Fair Grounds… The Bob Hope victory was the fourth in six runners of the event here. Baffert won five when the race was known as the Hollywood Preview at Hollywood Park.