By Jim Charvat

Del Mar Paddock © Benoit Photo 

STRONG FINISH ANTICIPATED FOR DEL MAR FALL MEET

We’ve gone past the midway point of the Bing Crosby Season at Del Mar and the effects of the rain and the closing of the track to training last weekend are showing up in the numbers used to gauge the success of the meet. It affected field sizes, which are down a bit this year compared to 2022.

After six days there have been 52 races with 366 horses for an average of 7.04 per race, down from 7.55 per race at this point last year.

“Overall, it’s been a little bit of struggle,” racing secretary David Jerkens says. “The training disruptions last week certainly didn’t help. It’s not up to the standard we typically have in the fall thus far but six days is a small sample size.”

Just the threat of rain and the closing of the main track to training on Saturday and Sunday threw a wrench into things. Many trainers missed works for their horses and chose not to enter in the races. There were 176 starters in 26 races last week for a field average of 6.77, down from 7.15 in the second week of the fall meet a year ago.

“Trainers are very patterned,” Jerkens notes. “They have their regiments and when that gets disrupted, not only here but also at Santa Anita, certain trainers won’t enter because they didn’t get to work.”

“Hopefully we’re clear the rest of the way,” Jerkens says. “So much of this fall meet is dependent on Mother Nature.”

The hope is those trainers who passed on the races last week will re-enter in races scheduled in the final two weeks of the meet.

The turf racing at Del Mar remains strong. There have been 27 races run on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course with a total of 206 runners for a 7.63 average field size. Those numbers are expected to increase this week during the Turf Festival.

“We’re expecting probably about a dozen or so shippers,” Jerkens says. “That definitely helps add to the intrigue of those races. I know they’re off the turf now in New York. In Kentucky, they’re just trying to get through the Churchill meet, so we’re hoping for a strong contingent of shippers.”

The number of shippers racing during the first two weeks of the meet are down sharply in 2023. This year there have been seven horses qualifying for the ‘Ship & Win’ program compared to 21 in the first two weeks last year.

“In years past we’ve had quite a bit of contributions from all over,” Jerkens recalls. “Locally, we have some participants that will be very strong. Phil D’Amato’s all over every race so I think we’ll have a good local contingent.”

HONG KONG HARRY SEEKS A REPEAT IN THE G2 SEABISCUIT SATURDAY

He’s back to defend his crown and judging by his last race, Hong Kong Harry will be a handful for the other seven entries in the G2 Seabiscuit Saturday at Del Mar. It’s day three of the Turf Festival and the Irish-bred gelding is back on his favorite surface.

Hong Kong Harry won this race last year with a scintillating late kick. It was his second win at Del Mar in 2022. He had taken the G2 Del Mar Mile during the summer meet.

Trainer Phil D’Amato has limited ‘Harry’ to just four races in 2023, starting the year with a fourth-place finish in the G1 Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, just 1 ¼ lengths behind the winner, stablemate Gold Phoenix. He was runner-up to Up to the Mark in the G1 Turf Classic on Derby Day at Churchill Downs before returning to the west coast and running third later in the month in the G1 Shoemaker Mile, just 1 ½ lengths behind the winner, Exaulted.

D’Amato gave Hong Kong Harry the summer off before bringing him back in September when he nailed pacesetter Astronomer in a driving finish in the G2 City of Hope.

“He’s coming off of a nice win,” the conditioner says. “He’s very consistent. He’s won here in the past. He’s probably the main contender of the three with (my) other two not too far behind.”

D’Amato has two other horses in the race. Easter came to him from the Graham Motion barn after Motion brought him from New York to run in the Lure Stakes at Santa Anita the week before the Breeders’ Cup. He won the Lure despite getting off a step slow.

“The owners decided to keep him in California,” D’Amato says. “They left him with me with this race in mind. Hopefully he’s a horse that keeps improving in graded stakes company.”

Balnikhov returns to Del Mar where he won the 2022 Oceanside Stakes. D’Amato is hoping that getting the Irish-bred back on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course will turn things around for the 4-year-old gelding.

“He really loves this turf course,” D’Amato notes. “He loves to run fresh and he’s got all those things going for him in this race.”

Balnikhov ran second to stablemate Gold Phoenix in the G2 Eddie Read at Del Mar this past summer.

The horse Hong Kong Harry ran down in the City of Hope is back for the Seabiscuit. Astronomer went on to run in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, finishing 12^th of 13 after running close to the lead. Trainer Simon Callaghan was not discouraged by the run.

“Obviously you’re running against the very top horses,” Callaghan says. “He went pretty fast and ran hard. Those top horses just had a little more punch than him in the end. When Ryan (Moore) saw that his chances were over he wasn’t overly hard on him.”

Callaghan says Astronomer has been at Del Mar the past couple of days and training like a happy horse. Astronomer has won twice at the seaside oval, taking the Golden Mile on the Breeders’ Cup undercard in 2021 and returning to win an entry-level allowance race on opening day this past summer.

The 47^th running of the G2 Seabiscuit goes off as the seventh race on the nine-race card. It’s named after the famous racehorse from the 1930’s and used to be called the Citation when run at Hollywood Park.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Sumter (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1); Easter (Antonio Fresu, 3-1); Balnikhov (Hector Berrios, 8-1); Hong Kong Harry (Juan Hernandez, 8/5); Yes This Time (Kyle Frey, 20-1); Cabo Spirit (Victor Espinoza, 8-1); Astronomer (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1), and Front Run the Fed (Geovanni Franco, 12-1).

BARBARA LIVINGSTON SETS A HIGH BAR FOR RACING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Barbara Livingston has taken pictures of the races at practically every track in America. Her photos are found daily on the front cover of the Daily Racing Form. She is the bar by which racing photographers measure themselves. Based in New York, Livingston likes to come out west at least once a year and she was shooting Del Mar this past weekend.

“I was out for the Breeders’ Cup,” Livingston says. “I always like to visit my beau, (former trainer) Dan Hendricks, and the bonus to that is he lives here in Del Mar. I’m very happy to leave him on occasion to come to the track because it’s so beautiful here.”

This comes from a woman who was born and raised in Saratoga Springs, so she knows beauty when she sees it. A valuable quality for a photographer. She’s been capturing racing horses on film since she was 10. Of course nowadays they don’t use film and they’re called ‘images.’

“When I was 14, I wrote in my diary that I wanted to photograph horses for a living,” Livingston recalls. “That was 1974, when Ruffian ran. I set my life goal from that day. I’ve always been passionate and now it’s an obsession.”

That passion has led to six Eclipse Awards and won her the admiration of her fellow photographers and accolades industry wide. The bug really took hold the year Ruffian died.

“I still had pictures of her on my wall,” Livingston says, “and to me that kept her alive. I was fascinated with the thought that (through photography) you could keep these horses around and share them with others. Back in the day you didn’t have the Internet. The Internet has changed all that. Now it feels super important to share all of these horses that someone may not know about.”

Livingston spends about 150- to-180 days a year at the racetrack.

“I’m New York based but I go to Florida and Kentucky regularly because it’s easy to drive to those,” she notes. “I try to come out to Del Mar at least once a year. It’s a very inviting racetrack and the people are so friendly. Many people (at other tracks) are pleasant and at some places they’re indifferent. I don’t know of a place where people are as inviting than here.”

Livingston’s ability to capture the most amazing and unusual photos at a racetrack has earned her a reputation of being in the right place at the right time.

“I want to be someplace where everybody else isn’t,” Livingston explains. “If it works out it works out. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I try to think where the peak action is going to be, where the lighting is best. With a team it helps because then I can do that. Daily Racing Form needs the cover photo and they need the winner’s circle shot (for the big races). But for the other races I can have other people do that. I’ll tell them, ‘I’ll be at the eighth pole, I’ll be upstairs. I’ll be at the final turn.’”

Livingston is 62-years-old but she says even now when she sees a horse her heart flutters. And while it would seem that she’s done everything that can be done covering the races, she still has a bucket list.

“I like recording horse racing history,” Livingston claims. “So I’d like to do more flying around the country and photographing the grave stones and odd items. Like there’s a horse named Piccolo up at a university in Seattle where all they buried was his ear. There are probably 10 of those type of history things that I’d like to do.”

FREE HANDICAPPING SEMINARS CONTINUE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Del Mar will continue to offer free handicapping seminars on Saturdays and Sundays in the Hacienda Room patio just off the Plaza de Mexico. They begin at 11:35 a.m. in advance of the 12:30 first post.

This Saturday’s seminar, hosted by Frank Scatoni, will feature horse owner and handicapper Jerry Weseloh. The Sunday session, headed by Dan Smith, will offer insights from the founder of Super Screener, Mike Shutty.

The seminars run down the entire day’s card and usually last about 30 minutes.

COOLING OUT:  Linda’s Gift came out of her victory in the G3 Red Carpet Thanksgiving Day in good order and, according to trainer Richard Mandella, will be pointed to the 1 ½ mile Astra Stakes at Santa Anita January 21…The leading rider at Del Mar this fall is riding in Kentucky this Thanksgiving weekend, giving his fellow riders a golden chance to make up some ground in the jockey standings. Coming into this week, Flavien Prat had 10 victories, two better than his closest rival, Juan Hernandez, who didn’t waste any time filling the gap. Hernandez posted two wins on Thursday to move into a tie with his rival atop the standings. Time is running out though. Prat is due back to Del Mar on Sunday…

Del Mar Statistics

 Jockey Standings
(Current through November 23, 2023 Inclusive) 

Trainer Standings
(Current through November 23, 2023 Inclusive) 

Winning Favorites Report
(Current through November 23, 2023 Inclusive) 

  Winning favorites -- 27 out of 60 -- 45.00%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 14 out of 29 -- 48.28%
Winning favorites on turf -- 13 out of 31 -- 41.94%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 11 out of 16 -- 68.75%
In-the-Money favorites -- 45 out of 60 -- 75.00%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 14 out of 16 -- 87.50%