Filimbi © Benoit Photo
MATRIARCH INVADER FILIMBI HAS GRADE I STATUS GOAL
A Grade I stakes victory in the U.S. is about the only thing lacking on the resume of the 5-year-old mare Filimbi. A void that the connections of the Kentucky-bred daughter of Mizzen Mast -- owner Juddmonte Farms and trainer Bill Mott -- expressly intend to fill in Sunday’s Grade I $300,000 Matriarch Stakes, the climactic event of the Bing Crosby season.
“That’s the whole point of bringing her out here. The Just A Game in the spring and the Matriarch in the fall were the plan all along,” Mott assistant Rodolphe Bisset said Saturday morning. “She deserves a Grade I win, but it’s going to be a tough race, for sure.”
Filimbi is the 7-2 morning line favorite in a field of 14 for the one mile turf race which is in its 35th running overall and second at Del Mar.
Filimbi won twice in six starts in 2014 after being imported from France. The campaign highlight was a win in the Grade II Goldikova in November at Santa Anita. Runner-up finishes in the Grade I Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April and Grade I Just A Game in June at Belmont Park, on turf courses rated “yielding” and “good” respectively, preceded a layoff. She won an allowance turf mile at Belmont Park on November 1 in her comeback.
“In the Just A Game she got in a little trouble at the quarter pole and it took some time to get out,” Bisset said. “But when she did get out she made a huge run to get second. After the Just A Game we gave her some time off, then we started to build a good (fitness) base and the last race was a prep for this.”
Filimbi will break from the No. 9 post under Jose Lezcano, who was aboard for her last start. Joel Rosario, who will ride Olorda for Chad Brown in the Matriarch, was Filimbi’s regular pilot for her first nine U.S. starts.
“Jose won on her last time, so that’s good to have a jockey that has a feel for her,” Bisset said. “She’s pretty versatile. She’s won on the lead and from off the pace. In the Just A Game she was a little farther back than we thought she would be. I think the best way to describe it (Filimbi’s running style) is ‘Don’t get in her way.’ If the pace is fast she can be a few lengths back, if it is slow she can be up with it. You can do what you want with her.”
Regarding the favorite’s role: “I think she deserves it,” Bisset said. “She’s been running really well all year and I think the decision to freshen her over the summer was a very good one.”
The field from the rail out: Hard Not to Like (John Velazquez, 9-2), Chati’s On Top (Corey Nakatani, 20-1), Recepta (Elvis Trujillo, 8-1), Prize Exhibit (Santiago Gonzalez, 15-1), Curlin’s Fox (Victor Espinoza, 15-1), Crowley’s Law (Rafael Bejarano, 6-1), Gender Agenda (Tyler Baze, 15-1), Stellar Path (Silvestre de Sousa, 8-1), Filimbi (Jose Lezcano, 7-2), Stormy Lucy (Kent Desormeaux, 20-1), Olorda (Joel Rosario, 8-1), Queen of The Sand (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Baruta (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1), and She’s Not Here (Mike Smith, 15-1). Also eligible: Alexis Tangier (Gary Stevens, 15-1).
DRESSED IN HERMES A POTENTIAL STAR IN CECIL B. DE MILLE
Two-year-old gelding Dressed in Hermes left the Del Mar Summer Meeting a maiden after fourth and third-place finishes in two starts.
He returns on Sunday a winner of the $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes, a competitive fifth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and the 7-2 morning line favorite for the Grade III $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes.
All in all, an eventful just-under four month period for the Kentucky-bred son of Hat Trick owned by Sydney Belzberg’s Budget Stables and trained by Janet Armstrong out of the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Bonsall. And a turn of events that Armstrong wouldn’t have predicted.
“We weren’t planning on breaking his maiden in a stakes,” Armstrong said Saturday morning. “I would have rather gone the usual route. But we were on the also eligible for a couple races and didn’t get in, so we went in the Zuma Beach.
Dressed in Hermes won by a half length under Gary Stevens in 1:35.60 for the turf mile.
“I kind of thought he’d do what he did,” Armstrong said. “I was pleased he got a good post, got a good ride and he did so well.”
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf wasn’t an immediate thought after the Zuma Beach. But eventually, given how robustly the horse bounced back from the effort.
Dressed in Hermes drew the unfavorable No. 1 post for the Breeders’ Cup but was second, only a couple lengths off the lead, turning into the stretch.
Armstrong, a native of Canada, has trained for 14 years. She established herself at Hastings Park in Vancouver, B.C., before relocating to Southern California. She recently sold her house in Sierra Madre and moved close to San Luis Rey. “I’ve got only (young horses) and the quiet there is good for them. I’ll just ship in and run,” Armstrong said.
The field from the rail: Manhattan Dan (Jose Lezcano, 5-1), Collected (Martin Garcia, 8-1), Tusk (John Velazquez, 6-1), Canada (Gary Stevens, 8-1), Frank Conversation (Mario Gutierrez, 10-1), Ninety One Assault (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1), Hot Ore (Tyler Baze, 12-1), Arizona Moon (Drayden Van Dyke, 30-1), Rare Candy (Joe Talamo, 15-1), Dressed in Hermes (Mike Smith, 7-2), Imperious One (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Storming Candy (Edwin Maldonado, 20-1) and Archaeo (Corey Nakatani, 20-1).
WHAT’S IN A NAME – NATIVE DIVER HANDICAP
Today’s 37TH running of the Native Diver will be at the track where the highly-popular champion, owned by Mr. & Mrs. L.K. Shapiro and trained by M.E. “Buster” Millerick, won the San Diego Handicap three straight years from 1964 to 1966. Buried at Hollywood Park following his death in 1967, the remains of Native Diver were exhumed following the close of Hollywood Park and re-interred in the Del Mar infield.
WHAT’S IN A NAME – JIMMY DURANTE STAKES
The Miesque Stakes when held at Hollywood Park from 1997 to 2013, today’s one-mile run for 2-year-old fillies was renamed for the legendary comedian of the mid-20th Century. Durante, a Del Mar regular, broke up patrons with his antics on the stage and screen and famously broke up a piano and tossed it over the Turf Club balcony in one late-night entertainment gathering here.
WHAT’S IN A NAME – HOLLYWOOD DERBY
Inaugurated in 1938, a Grade I since 1973 and run at different distances and surfaces, today’s event remains the final major stakes of the year for 3-year-olds. Among the names on the list of winners are Triple Crown Champion Affirmed (1978), Riva Ridge (1972) and Swaps (1955). California Chrome won the inaugural running at Del Mar last year to secure an Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year.
BEJARANO CLOSES IN ON TITLE; TRAINER RACE TIGHTENS
Jockey Santiago Gonzalez took off six mounts because of illness Saturday, the day of his return from a three-day suspension, paving the way for perennial champion Rafael Bejarano to claim another riding title. Bejarano won twice on Friday to expand his lead over Gonzalez to 20-16 atop the standings. Bejarano has six mounts on Saturday’s nine-race card and six more on Sunday. If recovered, Gonzalez has five on Sunday.
Two wins for Phil D’Amato, one being the featured Grade II $250,000 Seabiscuit Handicap with Midnight Storm, and one for Peter Miller tightened up the trainers’ race.
Doug O’Neill leads with 14 wins, two more than D’Amato and Miller. O’Neill has, after scratches, six starters today and five tomorrow. D’Amato will saddle eight on Saturday, three of them in the Jimmy Durante Stakes, and has three on Sunday. Miller has entered three on Saturday and four on Sunday.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BING
For the second Bing Crosby Season at Del Mar, we offer a daily note, quote or anecdote about the track’s founding father for whom the fall meeting is named.
Del Mar Senior Media Coordinator Dan Smith on a close encounter of the Bing kind in 1977. “We were in a meeting in the conference room and heard that Bing had come here unexpectedly. It was a spur of the moment thing on his part. His son Nathaniel was playing in the Junior World Tournament at Torrey Pines. We missed him, but Ed Scoville, who was the plant superintendent at that time, took him on a tour of the grounds and he was very impressed, very complimentary. That was his first trip back to Del Mar in many, many years.” Crosby had divested his interest in the track in 1946 in order to become a part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793