Tizamagician © Benoit Photo
SUMMER STARS AT DEL MAR AIM TO SHINE ON SATURDAY UNDERCARD
Tizamagician and Going Global were impact players during the Del Mar summer meeting.
Tizamagician won the Grade III Cougar II, a 1 ½-mile main track marathon on July 18 to cap the opening weekend of the meeting. The 4-year-old Tiznow colt then came back in the TVG Pacific Classic to lead for the first three quarters before finishing second to Tripoli in the $1 million, 1 ¼-mile signature event of the season.
Going Global came to Del Mar on a four-race winning streak on turf after being imported from Ireland, but had it snapped when beaten a half-length by Madone in the Grade II San Clemente on July 24, contested at one mile on the Jimmy Durante course. A month later, and at her more preferred distance of 1 1/8 miles, Going Global took control in the stretch and won the Grade I, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks by a length.
For that effort, Going Global was a unanimous choice in the Del Mar media vote for top 3-year-old filly of the meeting.
Del Mar followers will get another look and a worldwide Breeders’ Cup audience can avail itself of a first glance of the two summer stars in a pair of stakes with combined purses totaling $550,000 immediately preceding the nine Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday’s card.
Call the $250,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes and the $300,000 Goldikova Stakes an aperitif for the smorgasbord to follow – races with combined purses of $21 million – if you like. But call the TAA and the Goldikova highly competitive featuring the 4-year-old colt and 3-year-old filly Southern California fans have found very much worth watching. A capsule look:
Race No. 2: $250,000 TAA Stakes; Grade III, 1 5/8 miles for 3-year-olds and up.
Lone Rock, a 6-year-old gelded son of Majestic Warrior trained by Robertino Diodoro is the 6/5 morning line favorite with Tizamagician, trained by Richard Mandella for MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm, the second choice at 8/5 in a field of seven. It’s easy to see why.
Lone Rock had a four-race winning streak snapped when second in his first try at this distance in the Jockey Club Grand Prix at Belmont Park on September 18. One of the wins in the streak, however, was an 11 ¼-length romp in the 1 ½-mile, Grade II Brooklyn Handicap in June at Belmont in which Tizamagician was the runner-up.
Tizamagician followed the Brooklyn with his summer assignments here then was fifth to Medina Spirit in the Grade I Awesome Again on October 2 at Santa Anita.
Del Mar’s leading jockey Flavien Prat has been aboard for the last five starts and will be again on Saturday.
“He ran a really good race last time here and he’s been training well. He feels strong and I think he will be ready to run another good one,” Prat said. “When (Lone Rock) beat us (in the Brooklyn), we had a really bad break, so we had an excuse and I hope things will be different this time.”
The field of seven from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Mad Grace (apprentice Jessica Pyfer, 30-1); Lone Rock (Ramon Vazquez); Cupid’s Claws (Luis Saez, 6-1); Tizamagician; Zestful (Florent Geroux, 8-1); Locally Owned (Tyler Gaffalione, 6-1), and Hapi Hapi (Tiago Pereira, 30-1).
Race No. 3: $300,000 Goldikova Stakes; Grade II, one mile (turf) for fillies and mares 3 years old and up.
Princess Grace, who made her summer mark here with a ship-in score in the Grade II, 1 1/16-mile Yellow Ribbon on August 7, is the 8/5 morning line favorite, barely ahead of 9-5 Going Global.
Trained by Michael Stidham and owned by Susan and John Moore, Princess Grace, a 4-year-old daughter of Karakontie, is on a four-race winning streak. She followed her Yellow Ribbon score with one in the Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs on September 11 to set her career record at six wins and a second from seven starts with earnings of $886,860.
Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, whose services were called upon for the Yellow Ribbon, will be back in the irons.
Going Global, trained by Phil D’Amato since being imported, has been freshened since her Del Mar Oaks victory with five works at Santa Anita starting in late September and a finishing touch 1:01.80 for five furlongs here on Sunday.
“We’ve been planning for this race for the last month and a half and she’s coming into it in really good shape,” D’Amato said. “This will be her first against older horses and we look at it as a good chance to see how we stand in that regard. Also it’s a good prep for the Oaks at the start of the Santa Anita meet in December.
“I think there are a lot of contenders in there and Princess Grace is definitely the top one.”
The field of nine from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Zofelle (Tyler Gaffalione, 6-1); Princess Grace; Abscond (Irad Ortiz, Jr., 8-1); Glesga Gal (Florent Geroux, 15-1); Ippodamia’s Girl (Luis Saez, 20-1); Bodhicitta (Joel Rosario, 12-1); Going Global; Warren’s Showtime (Juan Hernandez, 12-1), and Constantia (Umberto Rispoli, 15-1).
SUMMER MEET ROLLS 11 STAKES WINNERS INTO BREEDERS’ CUP RACES
A total of 11 stakes winners at Del Mar’s 82nd summer meeting will “go for the gold” in various Breeders’ Cup events, the most the track has ever seen come out of its July-to-September session.
Leading the parade are this year’s Kentucky Derby winner and Del Mar’s Shared Belief star Medina Spirit, as well as TVG Pacific Classic winner Tripoli – both of whom will head to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The $4 million BC Turf has Del Mar Handicap victor Astronaut on its roster. The $2 million BC Distaff gets Clement L. Hirsch heroine Shedaresthedevil, while the $2 million BC Mile has drawn Del Mar Mile king Mo Forza. The $2 million BC Sprint has Bing Crosby conqueror Dr Schivel. The $2 million BC Filly & Mare Turf has John C. Mabee prizewinner Going to Vegas. The $2 million BC Juvenile has lured Del Mar Futurity topper Pinehurst. Then there’s Pat O’Brien zinger Ginobili in the BC Dirt Mile and Del Mar Juvenile Turf lawn mower Mackinnon in the BC Juvenile Turf. Green Flash speedster Lieutenant Dan goes in the BC Turf Sprint.
HERRERA’S FIRST DEL MAR WIN IS BIGGEST OPENING DAY SURPRISE
Apprentice jockey Diego Herrera’s first victory at Del Mar was the upset of the day as the Bing Crosby season opened on Wednesday.
Herrera guided Divine Feminine along the rail in the stretch and under the wire first that rewarded backers at $85.20 for a $2 win bet.
It was the 29th win in the career of Herrera, a 17-year-old from Inglewood who was brought to Del Mar last summer by veteran agent Vince DeGregory and who is now represented by Derek Lawson, former agent for top jockey Flavien Prat.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to win against this group of riders this (Breeders’ Cup) week,” Herrera said.
Herrera was a student at the Lennox Mathematics, Science and Technical Institute charter school in Lennox, CA, before halting studies to pursue a riding career. He is completing his high school courses remotely during breaks from a schedule that has recently included riding at Santa Anita in the afternoons and Los Alamitos at night.
Currently accorded a seven-pound allowance, Herrera will have the “bug” until May of next year. Equibase statistics through Wednesday show Herrera with 29 wins, 42 seconds and 30 thirds from 267 mounts.
Herrera said he “played it by the book” with Divine Feminine, a 2-year-old California-bred Misremembered colt trained by Lorenzo Ruiz making his racing debut. “Got a clean break, was in a good spot and when the rail opened up and I asked him at the eighth pole he really responded,” Herrera said.
While the betting public overlooked Divine Feminine, Lawson was a backer.
“One handicapping angle is that horses trained at Los Alamitos run better here than ones that train at Santa Anita,” Lawson said. “He had a lot of works at Los Alamitos and with 2-year-old Cal breds you never know what might happen.”
‘MOOSE’ WILL BE LOOSE ON SHORT NOTICE IN GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE
The last starts for 12 of the 13 entered in the $175,000 Golden State Juvenile, the fifth race on Friday’s card, range from September 6 to October 11. Then there’s Moose Mitchell.
The gelded son of Danzig Candy, owned by the R L Stables of Kathleen and John Michael Kennedy of Larkspur, CA, broke his maiden in his fifth start last Saturday at Santa Anita and will undertake the seven-furlong assignment six days later.
“He came out of the (Saturday) race very well, won it easy, this is a nice one and we think he’ll like the seven furlongs,” trainer George Papaprodromou said earlier this week. “I haven’t done it (run twice in a week) very often in a stakes race, but we’re doing it with the owners’ permission.”
Moose Mitchell started his career with three races in a 27-day span here from August 7-September 4 and chased home Joker Boy, the 7/2 Golden State Juvenile favorite, in two of those starts.
BREEDERS’ CUP XXXIV, DEL MAR I REVISITED
A look back at what happened on the corresponding days of Breeders’ Cup week when Del Mar hosted the event for the first time in 2017.
Thursday, November 2 – A major question on the eve of Breeders’ Cup Day 1 was whether trainer John Sadler would end his 0-for-39 streak in the event with either Accelerate in the Dirt Mile or Distaff favorite Stellar Wind the next day.
No, he wouldn’t. Sadler’s woes continued as Accelerate finished ninth of 10 and Stellar Wind last of 10. One year later, however, Sadler would gloriously enter the BC win column with Accelerate in the Classic.
CLOSERS – Juan Hernandez won the first race of the meeting (Starship Chewbacca, $5.80) and the first stakes (Livingmybestlife, $7.40, $100,000 Seashell) to top the jockey standings after opening day. Eight different trainers saddled first-day winners … The horse population in the stable area has more than doubled from Saturday to Wednesday. The racing office reports that on Saturday, there were 333 equines in residence and Wednesday 668.