Curlin's Journey © Benoit Photo
FIELD OF 10 ENTERED FOR THURSDAY’S RED CARPET STAKES
A field of 10 was entered Saturday morning for Thursday’s Grade III $100,000 Red Carpet Stakes. The 1 3/8-mile turf marathon for older fillies and mares is the first of seven graded stakes scheduled over the final four days of the meeting.
The Red Carpet, featured event on a Thanksgiving Day program that will have an early (11 a.m.) first post, will be run for the sixth time at Del Mar and the 54th time overall. The first 48 runnings were at Hollywood Park. It was known as the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park when it was won by standout female runners like Estrapade, Flawlessly, Royal Heroine and Black Mamba.
Among the entrants for Thursday are two making their second stakes starts of the meeting and one coming in off a victory in the Grade III Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita.
Curlin’s Journey, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Curlin, and Lostintranzlation, a 5-year-old California-bred daughter of Lucky Pulpit, were both forwardly placed early in the Kathryn Crosby mile event on opening day, November 8, before finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Keeper Ofthe Stars, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Midnight Lute, rallied for a 1 ½-length victory in the Autumn Miss under Abel Cedillo for trainer Jonathan Wong.
The post position draw was later Saturday. The field, in alphabetical order with riders: Candy Store (Flavien Prat), Curlin’s Journey (Ruben Fuentes), Keeper Ofthe Stars (Abel Cedillo), Lostintranzlation (Brice Blanc), Siberian Iris (Rafael Bejarano), Strike At Dawn (Drayden Van Dyke) Tiny Tina (Geovanni Franco), Trustini (Tyler Baze), Vibrance (J.C. Diaz) and Zuzanna (Evin Roman).
OLIVER WANTS LESS (DISTANCE) AND GETS IT IN SUNDAY’S GRANT
In the opening scene from the movie “Oliver,” the title character upsets an orphanage by auspiciously asking for “more” than the meager portion of gruel doled out.
Oliver, the Thoroughbred, may have delivered a more subtle request for less – in terms of distance – to his connections with a lackluster performance in the Comma to the Top Stakes at Santa Anita on October 27. And if so, the message was received. The son of Papa Clem is being shortened from a mile to the seven furlongs of the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes for 3-year-old California breds, the feature of Sunday’s nine-race card
“There was a lot of pressure on him, but maybe he’s just not a miler like we thought,” Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill, said of a last-of-five performance in the Comma to the Top.
“He ran really well here last summer and he was third in a couple stakes here as a 2-year-old. “
Owned by William R. Peeples, Oliver has a record of two wins, a second and two thirds in five starts at Del Mar, accounting for more than half of his $230,101 career earnings. He notched thirds in both the Graduation and I’m Smokin Stakes in 2018 and was second in the Real Good Deal last summer before posting an optional claiming victory on August 17.
Oliver was ridden by Martin Garcia in his last eight starts, but with Garcia having relocated to the Midwest, Abel Cedillo will be aboard Sunday.
The field from the rail: Ultimate Bango (Mike Smith, 7-2), Grinning Tiger (Heriberto Figueroa, 3-1), Fashionably Fast (Tiago Pereira, 8-5), Shades of Victory (Edwin Maldonado, 15-1), Oliver (Abel Cedillo, 5-2) and Rick’s Dream (Juan Hernandez, 15-1).
RIDER AND TRAINING LEADERS KEEP PACE ON FRIDAY
Drayden Van Dyke and Abel Cedillo notched two wins each on the Friday program, allowing Van Dyke to maintain his two-win margin atop the jockey standings.
Cedillo recorded wins with The Stiff ($5.80) and Rare Find ($4.00) in the second and third races to erase Van Dyke’s advantage early in the program. But Van Dyke responded with scores aboard Govenor Cinch (4th, $4.20) and California Kook (8th, $7.60) to restore the lead at program’s end, 10-8.
Training title front-runners Richard Baltas and Peter Miller waited until the final two races of the day before wins kept Baltas’ lead to the one it had been at the start of the card.
Velvet Queen, under Rafael Bejarano, pulled off a $14.40 upset in the seventh race to provide Baltas with his sixth win. Miller quickly countered when California Kook won the nightcap.
CLOSERS – Joe Talamo, two wins shy of career No. 2,000, has four mounts scheduled on the Saturday program. Talamo’s mounts, with morning line odds: Zorich (1st, 3-1), Going to Vegas (3rd, 3-1), Candy Fury (6th, 6-1) and Golden Grand (9th, 20-1). Leading Score (8th, 7-2) was scratched from the Native Diver Stakes … Selected works from 51 officially timed Saturday morning: Brill (4f, :47.80), Instagrand (4f, :49.20), Truck Salesman (4f, :47.80), Nolde (5f, 1:01.40), United (5f, 1:02.20) and Sunny Dale (6f, 1:12.40)… Sunday is “Toys for Tots” day at Del Mar. Bring an unwrapped kid’s toy and be part of a worthy cause while receiving free admission … A reminder to horsemen from the racing office: the main track will be open for training on Tuesday.