Juan Hernandez © Benoit Photo
JUAN HERNANDEZ EYES FIFTH STRAIGHT RIDING TITLE AT DEL MAR
If there was ever a jockey who was in the proverbial ‘zone’ right now it would be Juan Hernandez. Of the last seven meets that have been run at Del Mar, dating back to the fall of 2021, Hernandez has won the jockeys title five times, including the last four. Combine that with the six straight titles he’s won at Santa Anita dating back to the winter meet in 2023 and he’s riding about as well as anybody not named Prat or Ortiz.
Hernandez is back to defend his crown this fall at Del Mar and he has no intention of giving it up.
“Looks like everything is working the right way for me,” he says. “At the same time I’m riding for the right people. I’m really thankful to the owners and the trainers for giving me the good horses to ride. I feel real good right now. I feel like I’m in my zone. I love to ride horses and I work hard to win races.”
It always helps one’s performance if they like where they work and Hernandez enjoys riding the fall meet.
“I love Del Mar,” Hernandez boasts. “I like the people of Del Mar. They are horse racing people so you can feel the energy. And I like the track both the dirt and the turf. The turf course is really nice.”
Unlike in the summer, Hernandez will commute from Arcadia to Del Mar during the five weeks of the Bing Crosby season.
“I go back and forth,” Hernandez notes. “I get there (Del Mar) on Friday and race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then go back Sunday night after the races because I have to work horses at Santa Anita Monday morning. My family is in LA so they stay and I go by myself. It’s easier. I have two kids and it’s a little bit too much for them.”
Hernandez has been riding at Del Mar fulltime since the summer of 2020 and he just finished riding in his sixth Breeders’ Cup.
“It was really good,” Hernandez contends, “but I didn’t have enough horses for this Cup. I only rode three Breeders’ Cup races this year but I was happy with my horses. In the Juvenile on Friday Getaway Car ran a good fourth. The next day, in the sprint for the fillies (his mount was Pleasant) I ran third. I was in the front for the entire stretch and they just got me in the last couple of jumps. I had one more, Muth, in the Dirt Mile. He didn’t fire on Saturday. I still think he’s a good horse and I like him a lot.”
Hernandez will now get back to the job at hand, keeping his streak of jockey titles going at Del Mar. You have to go back a long way to find the last time someone won five straight riding titles at Del Mar. That was Bill Shoemaker who ended up winning six straight between 1949 and 1954. Anytime you’re keeping company with Shoemaker, you’re in a zone.
BIG CITY LIGHTS READY TO SHINE IN CARY GRANT STAKES SATURDAY
The stakes action at Del Mar resumes Saturday with the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes for Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up. A field of five talented horses will go to the gate in the seven furlong test on the main track.
Big City Lights has run twice before in the Cary Grant, finishing second to The Chosen Vron in both 2022 and 2023. This year there will be no The Chosen Vron and Big City Lights is primed to finally take the prize.
“We freshened him up a little and we’re anxious to see him go,” trainer Richard Mandella says. “He does well. He’s a good horse.”
Big City Lights has raced 11 times in his career and finished in the money all 11 trips. Five times he’s made it to the winner’s circle. He was last seen running third in the G2 Pat O’Brien at Del Mar this summer.
“He’s got a lot of class,” Mandella notes. “He’ll be right there.”
Curlin’s Kaos could be the one to catch. The 3-year-old son of Clubhouse Ride won the Real Good Deal Stakes in wire-to-wire fashion this past summer at Del Mar. He romped by 5¾ lengths. Last out he ran fourth in the G2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita.
Man O Rose brings a respectable lifetime record into the Cary Grant. He’s won more than half of his starts, seven of 13 to be exact. Most have been in allowance company but he did win the $75,000 E.B. Johnston at Los Alamitos in September, crossing the line eight lengths better than the nearest competition. Trainer Jeff Mullins then put the 4-year-old son of Stanford back on the turf and stretched him out to a mile in the Lure Stakes at Santa Anita last month and he ran sixth.
None Above the Law, Del Mar’s top 3-year-old of 2022, is back for the Cary Grant. The durable 6-year-old gelding by Karakontie has 37 lifetime starts. Last time out he ran a close third in the California Flag, down the hill at Santa Anita. He ran in last year’s Cary Grant and finished fourth.
The Cary Grant is named after the popular actor who graced the silver screen from the 1930’s until the mid-60s. It’s the eighth race on Saturday’s nine-race card. Probable post time is 4 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and morning line odds: Man O Rose (Edwin Maldonado, 8/5); Big City Lights (Kazushi Kimura, 7/5); Moose Mitchell (Armando Aguilar, 15-1); None Above the Law (Antonio Fresu, 9/2), and Curlin’s Kaos (Diego Herrera, 7/2).
BREEDERS’ CUP LEAVES ITS MARK ON FIRST WEEK STANDINGS
A lot of ‘outsiders’ made their way onto Del Mar’s jockey and trainer standings last week, Breeders’ Cup weekend and the first week of the Bing Crosby Season. But a couple of ‘regulars’ on the Southern California circuit managed to climb to the top of their respective rankings.
Antonio Fresu is off to a good start this fall, winning four races. He also finished second eight times over the first four days of the meet.
Flavien Prat and Frankie Dettori each won three races. Prat won two Breeders’ Cup races and a total of $5.5 million over the four race days last week.
Dettori, along with Ryan Moore and Joel Rosario, made the Top Ten. But they all packed up and left town after the Breeders’ Cup and are not expected back this fall. Prat has returned to his home base in New York, but does plan to come back to Del Mar in a few weeks for the Fall Turf Festival.
Defending riders champion Juan Hernandez is tied with a cluster of jockeys who notched two wins including Umberto Rispoli, Hector Berrios and Edwin Maldonado.
Doug O’Neill and Mark Glatt sit atop the trainers standings after Week One of racing. They each visited the winner’s circle three times. One of O’Neill’s victories came on the Breeders’ Cup undercard when his 2-year-old Tequilaandtherapy won the Golden State Juvenile Fillies on Friday.
Bob Baffert is in a group of a half-a-dozen trainers who had two victories last week. One of Baffert’s wins came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the other in the G3 Bayakoa. Del Mar’s defending fall meet trainers champion Phil D’Amato also had two victories last week, including a win on the undercard Friday with Speedy Wilson in the Golden State Juvenile Stakes.
John Sadler and Dan Blacker are amongst a group of 22 trainers who notched one win apiece. Both of their victories were in the Breeders’ Cup. Sadler’s Full Serrano won the Dirt Mile and Blacker’s Straight No Chaser took down the Sprint. Of the 22 trainers with one win apiece last week, half were shipping in for the Breeders’ Cup and have returned to their respective bases back east or overseas.
HANDICAPPING SEMINARS ON TAP SATURDAY, SUNDAY AT DEL MAR
Del Mar will once again present free handicapping seminars for its fans for the upcoming Saturday and Sunday race cards.
The seminars are held on the patio of the Hacienda Room adjacent to the large fountain in the Plaza de Mexico. They begin at 11:30 a.m. and run for approximately 30 minutes ahead of the first post at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday’s seminar, which is hosted by Frank Scatoni, will feature horseplayer and handicapper John Murphy. The Sunday session, led by Dan Smith, will have race caller Matt Dinerman in the driver’s seat.
COOLING OUT: Trainer Doug O’Neill says a decision has not been made yet on the future of G1 FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic winner Mixto. The son of Good Magic, whose only victory prior to the Pacific Classic was his maiden win at last year’s fall meet at Del Mar, ran 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. O’Neill also says a decision has not been made on whether or not Katonah, runner-up in the G2 San Diego last summer, will run in 2025 but his other Breeders’ Cup horse, Raging Torrent, will be pointed to the G1 Malibu at Santa Anita the day after Christmas…Del Mar will present its Uncorked Wine Festival tomorrow from noon until four. Over 100 wines and bubblies will be available for tasting. It will be held at the Seaside Cabana on the west end of the tarmac. Tickets are available online…Notable works this week, all on the dirt: Wednesday – Big City Lights (2f, :23.60), and Express Train (4f, :50.60); Friday – Tamara (5f, 1:01.20).