Taking a racing day off is a rare thing for Joe Talamo. Then again, it’s not every day a man gets married.

 

So Talamo’s name will not be found on the programs for the card here. It will, instead, be prominent on the programs passed out late this afternoon at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in the Little Italy community of San Diego where Talamo will wed Elizabeth Ellis.

 

Talamo, 25, and Ellis, eldest daughter of trainer Ron Ellis and his wife Amy, have known each other for eight years. They met in the spring of 2007, soon after Talamo, a 17-year-old apprentice, moved to the Southern California circuit fresh from being the first “bug boy” to win the riding title at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds, recording 119 victories.

 

“I asked her out right after I met her but her dad said ‘No’”, Talamo recalls.

 

In time, Ron Ellis relented and racing fans got to watch the relationship grow through two seasons of the Animal Planet reality series “Jockeys” in 2009.

 

“It helps that she grew up around the racetrack and the racing business,” Talamo said. “She knows how the (working) hours can be crazy and the weekends are like week days for most people.”

 

Talamo won the Eclipse Award as the top apprentice jockey of 2007 and has ranked among the top 15 in North America in earnings for each of the last four years. In an eventful 2009 season he endured the heartbreak of having the Kentucky Derby favorite he was about to ride, I Want Revenge, scratched on the morning of the race but notched his only Breeders’ Cup win that fall on California Flag in the Turf Sprint.

 

Equibase figures through Thursday show Talamo ranked No. 26 in North America for 2015 with 96 wins from 760 mounts and an additional 188 in-the-money finishes for purse earnings of more than $6 million.

 

Postponing a honeymoon until later this year, Talamo will be back riding at Del Mar on Saturday. He’s booked on three mounts, among them Three Hearts for Team Valor and trainer Neil Drysdale in the featured Grade III, $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes.

 

Three Hearts, a 5-year-old Hat Trick mare, is the defending Red Carpet champion, having pulled off a $61.40 upset under Talamo for the same connections a year ago in her West Coast debut. Three Hearts prepped for the Red Carpet with a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in the Kathryn Crosby Stakes.

 

The Kathryn Crosby was 1 1/16 miles, the Red Carpet 1 3/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

 

“I think she has a great shot,” Talamo said. “She ran very well last time and the distance is right for her.”

 

The Red Carpet field from the rail: Energia Fribby (Gary Stevens, 12-1), Three Hearts (Joe Talamo, 10-1), Tiz Kissable (Tyler Baze, 30-1), Beat of The Drum (Brice Blanc, 12-1), Trophee (James Graham, 7-2), Star Act (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Havanna Belle (David C. Lopez, 20-1), Customer Base (Mike Smith, 15-1), Elektrum (Victor Espinoza, 3-1), Personal Diary (Corey Nakatani, 9-2) and Rusty Slipper (Silvestre de Sousa, 5-1). Also eligible: Soresca (Santiago Gonzalez, 30-1).

 

 

 

Del Mar fans will be afforded a brief look at reigning British champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa on Saturday as the Brazilian-born rider has two mounts on the nine-race card.

 

De Sousa, 32, has been riding at Aqueduct in New York since the season ended in England with de Sousa earning the title with 132 wins, 36 more than runner-up William Buick.

 

Saturday here, de Sousa is scheduled to ride Whispering Softly in the sixth race and Rusty Slipper in the featured $100,000 Grade III Red Carpet Stakes, both for trainer H. Graham Motion.

 

The third-youngest of 10 children who grew up on a cattle farm, de Sousa was discovered by a prominent Brazilian jockey and placed at the Sao Paulo riding academy where he sat upon his first thoroughbred at age 17. He went to Ireland in February 2004 and spent most of the next few years struggling to find opportunities to ride  and success when he did.

 

An association with trainer David Nicholls started an upturn which resulted in a second-place finish for the British jockeys’ title in 2011, but he wasn’t among the top  10 jockeys on legal bookmaker William Hill’s list of potential champions at the start of the season.

 

He didn’t ride many favorites but produced wins, most notably last summer aboard 50-1 Arabian Queen in the Juddmonte International at York over Golden Horn and The Grey Gatsby. Golden Horn was 5-0 at the that point, among the victories the English Derby, and the 3-year-old colt would go on to win the Irish Champion Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before  finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

 

Whispering Softly is the 7-2 morning line favorite in Saturday’s sixth race. Rusty Slipper is 5-1 in the Red Carpet.

 

 

 

Tachycardia Stables’ Big Macher was tabbed the 8-5 favorite in a field of 11 for Sunday’s $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for California breds.

 

The 5-year-old gelded son of Beau Genius, trained by Richard Baltas, is the defending champion in the Cary Grant and has previous Del Mar stakes victories in the  Bing Crosby (2014) and Pirate’s Bounty (2015) during summer meetings. Big Macher has seven wins from 18 career starts and earnings of $684,038.

 

The field from the rail out: Avanti Bello (Tyler Baze, 8-1), Solid Wager (Victor Espinoza, 10-1), Got Even (Martin Pedroza, 15-1), Soi Phet (Alonso Quinonez, 8-1), Big Macher (Rafael Bejarano, 8-5), Bold Fantasy (David C. Lopez, 30-1), Red Outlaw (Edwin Maldonado, 8-1), Forest Chatter (Mike Smith, 5-1), Old Man Lake (Tiago Pereira, 20-1), Raised a Secret (Fernando Perez, 12-1) and Richard’s Boy (Joe Talamo, 8-1).

 

 

 

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Doug O’Neill are both three wins away and poised to reach career milestones today or in the near future.

 

Hollendorfer  enters the day with 6,997 victories and has two scheduled starters at Del Mar and four at Golden Gate Fields. His line-up at Del Mar: Sharaun (7^th, 3-1) and A Lucky Carry (8^th, 8-1). His line-up at Golden Gate Fields: Trimoma (2^nd, 12-1), Thru The Ages (3^rd, 6-1), Stand And Salute (5^th, 8-1) and Bolita Boyz (5^th, 6-1).

 

O’Neill, with two victories here on Thursday, is at 1,997 and has four starters at Del Mar today. His line-up:  Semper Fortis (1^st, 5-2), Media Melee (1^st, 7-2), John’s Success (3^rd, 4-1), Gunslinger (5^th, 8-1) .

 

Victories on Thursday by Exactamente ($15.00) in the first race and Derby Glass ($3.40) in the fourth lifted O’Neill past Phil D’Amato  into first place in the meet trainer standings, 9-8.

 

 

CLOSERS – Victor Espinoza is one of 12 jockeys from around the world who will compete in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on December 9.  British champion Silvestre de Sousa, who makes his Del Mar debut on Saturday, is also on the roster … Santiago Gonzalez, two wins ahead of Rafael Bejarano in the Bing Crosby Season standings, was denied a stay on appeal of his three-day suspension and will be sidelined Sunday and next Thursday and Friday except  for graded stakes  events – the Hollywood Turf Cup on Thursday and Seabiscuit Handicap on Friday … Kent Desormeaux, Mario Gutierrez and four-time Del Mar riding champion Patrick Valenzuela all have mounts in Saturday’s  $1 million Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs in Louisiana. Desormeaux rides 2-1  favorite Exaggerator, Gutierrez has the call on Found Money (6-1) and Valenzuela Memories of Winter (10-1).  

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793