Om, © Benoit Photo

A capacity complement of 13 rivals, five of them shippers from the East, stands between 3-year-old colt Om and a “Derby Turf Triple” in Saturday’s $300,000 Grade I Hollywood Derby.

 

Knowing that,  trainer Dan Hendricks, who set the Del Mar Derby, Twilight Derby, Hollywood Derby  course for the Kentucky-bred son of Munnings last summer, remains optimistic. All three are grass events at the 1 1/8-mile distance.

 

“The biggest thing about it is, you don’t know if the horses shipping in are going to take to the course,” Hendricks said Friday morning from Santa Anita. “With that many (14) horses there can be troubled trips. But with our horse’s running style, he figures to be forwardly placed and clear of it. We think it’s going to set up well for him.”

 

Owned by the Sareen Family Trust, Om is one of only two horses to hang a loss on American Pharoah. It came at Del Mar on August 9, 2014 in the second career start for Om and the debut for American Pharoah, a 6 ½ furlong start on Polytrack which Om won by 7 ¼ lengths and American Pharoah finished fifth.

 

Om won his first turf start at Santa Anita in May of this year and was back on grass for a second in the La Jolla Handicap here in August and a 2 ¼-length victory in the Del Mar Derby in September.

 

Hendricks talked then of keeping the colt at the same distance and on the same surface for the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita, another 2 ¼-length win in October, and the Hollywood Derby. Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens has been aboard for the two recent Grade II victories and will be back in the irons on Saturday.

 

The five shippers among Om’s rivals are comprised of four from the New York stable of Chad Brown – Fundamental, Money Multiplier, March and Offering Plan – and Closing Bell from Eastern-based Hall of Famer Bill Mott.

 

Om has been training at Santa Anita and was scheduled to make the freeway trip south to Del Mar on Friday morning and school in the paddock in the afternoon.

 

“He’s trained and run well over the (Del Mar) course so it’s no problem to ship down and run,” Hendricks said. “It’s a lot closer than New York.

 

The field from the rail for the Hollywood Derby: Mister Brightside (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1), Sharla Rae (James Graham, 12-1), Vigilante (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Chiropractor (Corey Nakatani, 8-1), Om (Gary Stevens, 5-2), Fundamental (Victor Espinoza, 8-1), Crittenden (Mario Gutierrez, 20-1), Closing Bell (Jose Lezcano, 6-1), Soul Driver (Tyler Baze, 20-1), Money Multiplier (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), March (Rafael Bejarano, 10-1), Royal Albert Hall (Santiago Gonzalez, 20-1), Offering Plan (Mike Smith, 5-1) and Win the Space (Alex Solis, 20-1). Also eligible: Acceptance (Alonso Quinonez, 20-1).

 

 

 

Trainer Phil D’amato’s quartet of Coppa, Riri, Optimism and Hope and Sutton’s Smile constitutes nearly a third of the 13-horse field for Saturday’s $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf.

 

Riri, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Speightstown owned by Little Red Feather Racing, has a 2-0 start to her career and is the 7-2 favorite on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line.

 

“So far, she’s perfect,” D’Amato said Friday morning. “She’s won her first two with something in reserve and I don’t think the distance is going to be a problem. But these are different horses and she’ll have to show something more (Saturday).”

 

The field from the rail for the Jimmy Durante: Do the Dance (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Coppa (Jose Lezcano, 6-1), Riri (Rafael Bejarano, 7-2), Optimism And Hope (Mike Smith, 12-1), Corps de Ballet (Gary Stevens, 10-1), Jeremy’s Legacy (Mario Gutierrez, 9-2), One Last Shot (Fernando Perez, 20-1), Sheeza Milky Way (Alonso Quinonez, 20-1), Wake the Dawn (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Mokat (Corey Nakatani, 6-1), Sutton’s Smile (Victor Espinoza, 8-1), Family Meeting (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), and Mirage (Tyler Baze, 8-1).

 

 

Juddmonte Farms’ Filimbi, shipped in from the East Coast by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, was tabbed the 7-2 morning line favorite in a capacity field of 14 for Sunday’s Grade I $300,000 Matriarch Stakes, the highlight of the Closing Day program on Sunday.

 

Filimbi, a 5-year-old daughter Mizzen Mast has career earnings of $634,763 from seven wins in seventeen career starts and comes in off an optional claiming level victory at Belmont Park on November 1. Her previous two starts had been runner-up finishes in Grade I stakes – to Tepin in the Just A Game at Belmont Park in June and Ball Dancing in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April.

 

The field from the rail out: Hard Not to Like (John Velazquez), Chati’s On Top (Corey Nakatani), Recepta (Elvis Trujillo), Prize Exhibit (Santiago Gonzalez), Curlin’s Fox (Victor Espinoza), Crowley’s Law (Rafael Bejarano), Gender Agenda (Tyler Baze), Stellar Path (Silvestre de Souza), Filimbi (Jose Lezcano), Stormy Lucy (Kent Desormeaux), Olorda (Joel Rosario), Queen of The Sand (Brice Blanc), Baruta (Drayden Van Dyke), and She’s Not Here (Mike Smith). Also eligible: Alexis Tangier (Gary Stevens). 

 

Also on Sunday’s  nine-race program is the Grade III $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for two year olds at one mile on the turf. Oddsmaker Russ Hudak designated Dressed in Hermes as the 7-2 morning line favorite.

 

A Kentucky-bred gelded son of Hat Trick owned by Budget Stable and trained by Janet Armstrong, Dressed in Hermes broke his maiden winning the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in his last two starts. 

 

The field from the rail: Manhattan Dan (Jose Lezcano), Collected (Martin Garcia), Tusk (John Velazquez), Canada (Gary Stevens), Frank Conversation (Mario Gutierrez), Ninety One Assault (Kent Desormeaux), Hot Ore (Tyler Baze), Arizona Moon (Drayden Van Dyke), Rare Candy (Joe Talamo), Dressed in Hermes (Mike Smith), Imperious One (Rafael Bejarano), Storming Candy (Edwin Maldonado) and Archaeo (Corey Nakatani)

 

 

 

A romping 13-length victory  by Kiss N Scat under Ricardo Gonzalez in the first race at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday was career victory No. 7,000 for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

 

“I’m grateful for it (milestone). I’m grateful to be in this business in the first place,” Hollendorfer said from Santa Anita when contacted by phone moments after the milestone victory. “I’m grateful for all the people that have helped me over the years and especially to the owners for all the good horses I’ve been given to train.”

 

Hollendorfer becomes only the third trainer to reach the 7,000 victory mark, joining Dale Baird and Steve Asmussen. Hollendorfer notched victory No. 6,000 on September 3, 2011 at Golden Gate Fields with Just Tappin It.

 

Hollendorfer said he’ll be at Del Mar for the duration of the Bing Crosby meeting which ends Sunday.

 

 

 

 

The opponent for Seabiscuit, for whom today’s featured stakes is named, in the celebrated 1938 match race at Del Mar was Ligaroti, co-owned by Bing Crosby and Lin Howard, who partnered as Binglin Stable and imported the 6-year-old from Argentina. Seabiscuit was owned by Lin’s father, Charles Howard.

 

 

CLOSERS – Jose Hernandez, assistant to Chad Brown, reported that all five horses shipped in from New York – four for the Hollywood Derby – and one for the Matriarch, made the journey nicely on Monday and have acclimated well to Del Mar. They will be the first starters here for Brown, a former assistant to the late Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel … With one victory each on Thursday, Rafael Bejarano and Doug O’Neill increased their leads in the jockey and trainer standings to two and three wins respectively. Bejarano has six mounts today to one for Santiago Gonzalez, serving the last of a three-day suspension from all but stakes mounts. With two entrants scratched,  O’Neill has one horse to saddle on Friday while his closest pursuer, Peter Miller, has four.

 

 

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