Journey Home © Benoit Photo
DEL MAR DEALS WITH UNUSUAL, NOT UNPRECEDENTED, WEATHER ISSUES
The first storm that hit on Saturday afternoon deposited nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain on the track, Del Mar Executive Vice President Racing, Tom Robbins said.
Subsequent storms through the night and into Sunday morning added to the total, and the forecast called for more rain intermittently through the early afternoon and in the course of the nine-race card.
So the contingency plans for weather situations, rarely necessary at Del Mar, were put into place.
“We’re off the turf for both races that were scheduled there,” Robbins said. “The main track has been closed for training all morning and we’re working in necessary areas, like the paddock, that need cleaning up.”
Racing Secretary David Jerkens was fielding calls from horsemen, starting about six hours in advance of the 12:30 first post.
The two scheduled turf races were the one-mile $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for two-year-olds (6th) and a five-furlong sprint for maiden fillies and mares to close the nine-race card. Trainer Neil Drysdale scratched Offshore from the Jimmy Durante, reducing the field to eight. There were two late scratches from the ninth race, Drysdale’s Angel Eria and John Shirreffs’ Utana.
Del Mar officials were to inspect the surface and determine the condition to be listed with the strong possibility of changes during the day if additional rain materialized. Late in the morning it was listed as “wet fast.”
“It might turn out to be ‘good,’ it might be ‘sloppy,’” Robbins said. “We’ve been through all this before, so it’s something we’re prepared to deal with.”
On Saturday, July 28, 2015, a lightning and thunderstorm came through at 6:30 a.m. One strike set a palm tree on fire beyond the track property but smoke and flames were visible from the grandstand.
Meanwhile, several horses continued main track workouts, appearing unfazed. Trainer Bob Baffert did due diligence regarding the track condition and decided, 90 minutes after the storm dissipated, to go on with a workout for Triple Crown champion American Pharoah.
American Pharoah went six furlongs in 1:11.40 and Baffert commented that the rain might have been good for the track.
When rains persisted, growing heavier as race time neared, the track was sealed and a decision was made to take three of the four scheduled grass races – the Grade I Eddie Read being the exception – off the turf and onto the main track.
The races were conducted on a track rated other than “fast” for the first time since September 6, 1991. The previous “off” track listing before that was September 6, 1982.
PETER MILLER: HOT, HOT, HOT AND ENJOYING THE RIDE(S)
Peter Miller’s stable is so hot even he can scarcely believe it.
Miller saddled three runners on Saturday’s program and posed for a winner’s circle picture with all three – Look Twice (1st, $6.00), Glacken Too(2nd, $3.00) and Richard’s Boy (4th, $3.60).
The results advanced Miller’s charges to 11 wins in the last 16 starts and gave Miller 12 wins for the Bing Crosby season, twice as many as Doug O’Neill, his closest pursuer for the training title with five days left in the meeting.
“It’s pretty ridiculous,” Miller said Sunday by phone from his San Luis Rey Downs training base. To what does he ascribe the success?
“Good fortune, good draws, good rides and putting the horses in spots where we think they can win.”
Since the inception of the Bing Crosby meeting, Miller has been a major force. He won the training title in the inaugural 2014 season with 15 wins to 10 for runner-up Mike Puype. In 2015, he tied with Phil D’Amato for second with 13 wins, two behind champion Doug O’Neill.
Miller has entries in five races Sunday, among them the duo of 5-2 morning line favorite Sword Fighter and 10-1 Vending Machine in the $100,000 Grade III Cecil B. DeMille. Rains late Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning forced the mile run for 2-year-olds to be taken off the turf and moved to the main track.
“Actually, I think I prefer it off the turf,” Miller said. The only victories for the Miller pair in their young careers have been on dirt.
When you’re hot, you’re hot?
“Exactly,” Miller said. “You’re never as good and you’re never as bad as you think you are at any given time in this business. I just try to keep an even keel and enjoy the good run until it’s over.”
Miller has Ice Cold Tap (3rd, 4-1), Nuke Laloosh (5th, 8-5) and Aloha Spirit (9th, 8-1) on Sunday’s program in addition to the DeMille duo. When racing resumes on Thursday, Miller will have representatives in four of the eight races.
“We’ve got horses that are ready and we’re going to keep running them right through to the end of the meeting,” Miller said.
CLAPHAM, MOTION STABLE SAVOR SATURDAY STAKES DOUBLE
If Alice Clapham had a business card, it might read: “Have Horsemanship, Will Travel.”
Clapham is the assistant trainer/Jill-of-all-Trades that trainer H. Graham Motion sends with his horses while he tends to major business at his Fair Hill, Maryland training facility or a number of tracks.
And Clapham has certainly done the boss proud over the last three days at Del Mar. She saddled Arles to a runner-up finish, nipped in the final strides by Nuovo Record in Thursday’s Red Carpet Stakes and, on Saturday, scored a stakes double with Journey Home in the Jimmy Durante Stakes and Ring Weekend in the Seabiscuit Handicap.
Drayden Van Dyke rode both stakes winners. Victories in two stakes on the same program was a first for both the 22-year-old jockey and the 46-year-old assistant trainer.
Born into a family of equestrians in Hampshire, England, about 45 minutes from London, Clapham has been with Motion, a fellow English transplant, for several years and has become accustomed to the traveling life.
“I worked in Australia and New Zealand for a while and in Ireland (before Motion),” Clapham said Sunday morning. “I was always told that you should never stop learning and just traveling and seeing different places helps with that.”
She accompanied Motion and Team Valor Racing’s 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom to Dubai for his 2013 World Cup victory and to Ascot, England. She’s been back to Ascot in 2015 and 2016 with Miss Temple City, the potential favorite for the $300,000 Grade I Matriarch Stakes next Sunday, the closing day of the meeting.
“It’s always good to go home and see everybody and my family home is not that far from Ascot, so those trips were great,” she said.
Arles, Journey Home and Ring Weekend all came out of their races well. Clapham said. As did Miss Temple City, who worked five furlongs on turf Saturday with Clapham in the irons. Those who have already run will likely ship back to Santa Anita early this week to winter at the Arcadia track.
She was on the phone with Motion early Sunday morning and said he was “very happy,” of course, with the Del Mar results. “We also had a win at Laurel so it was a very good day for the stable.”
CLOSERS – Ralis was scratched from Friday’s Hollywood Turf Cup due to a cough, said Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill. “It’s nothing serious. He hasn’t had a break in a long time and it’s time for him to have one,” Mora said. The 3-year-old son of Square Eddie had nine starts in 2016 starting in March … Flavien Prat had two wins on Saturday as did Drayden Van Dyke with his stakes double. Prat, 24, leads the rider standings with 11 victories. Van Dyke, 22, holds second, two wins behind.
DEL MAR STATISTICS
Jockey Standings
(Current Through Saturday, November 26, 2016 Inclusive)
| Jockey | Mts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Win% | In-money% | Money Won |
| Flavien Prat | 46 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 20% | 57% | $348,702 |
| Norberto Arroyo, Jr. | 47 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 17% | 49% | $329,215 |
| Santiago Gonzalez | 41 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 17% | 41% | $267,390 |
| Drayden Van Dyke | 26 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 27% | 38% | $254,558 |
| Tyler Baze | 49 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 12% | 39% | $318,059 |
| Victor Espinoza | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 35% | 47% | $233,390 |
| Joseph Talamo | 28 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14% | 39% | $228,580 |
| Mike Smith | 20 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 20% | 45% | $212,162 |
| Stewart Elliott | 29 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10% | 41% | $125,300 |
| Kent Desormeaux | 29 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10% | 24% | $179,149 |
Trainer Standings
(Current Through Saturday, November 26, 2016 Inclusive)
| Trainer | Sts | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Win% | In-money% | Money Won |
| Peter Miller | 27 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 33% | 52% | $331,659 |
| Doug F. O'Neill | 32 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 19% | 47% | $280,740 |
| Mike Puype | 18 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 28% | 56% | $131,170 |
| Richard Baltas | 24 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21% | 42% | $203,290 |
| Mark Glatt | 17 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 24% | 47% | $108,855 |
| Jerry Hollendorfer | 17 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18% | 35% | $112,088 |
| Steven Miyadi | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 25% | 42% | $67,026 |
| Bob Baffert | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 25% | 63% | $127,185 |
| Robertino Diodoro | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20% | 40% | $44,155 |
| John W. Sadler | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22% | 33% | $80,969 |
Winning Favorites Report
Winning favorites -- 27 out of 86 -- 31.40%
Winning favorites on dirt -- 18 out of 52 -- 34.62%
Winning favorites on turf -- 9 out of 34 -- 26.47%
Winning odds-on favorites -- 8 out of 13 -- 61.54%
In-the-Money favorites -- 58 out of 86 -- 67.44%
Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793