Muth © Benoit Photo
MUTH TO TAKE NEXT STEP IN CA CROWN, FORMIDABLE MAN UNDECIDED
“One step at a time, baby steps,” trainer Bob Baffert urged Sunday after his star pupil, Muth, won the $125,000 Shared Belief at Del Mar.
Muth has been on the radar ever since Amr Zedan dropped $2 million dollars to purchase the colt at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company March Sale of 2-year-olds in Training last year. But a setback just before this year’s Preakness led to a lot of anticipation and anxiety leading up to Sunday’s Shared Belief.
The son of Good Magic put all those fears to rest when he held off stablemate Imagination through the lane, then a late-charging Indispensable, to win the race and get back on track for a run at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in November.
“He’s always been a really smart horse,” Baffert said. “You can place him wherever you want to. He had to move a little earlier because my other horse (Imagination) was breathing down his neck. It’s good see him back off that long layoff. Now we can point for the California Crown.”
The new California Crown, formerly the Awesome Again, will be run at Santa Anita on September 28th. It’s a mile and an eighth and, though it’s worth $1 million, it is still considered a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and is a “Win and You’re In” for that race.
“It was so disappointing to have him ready for the Preakness then he gets sick,” Baffert recalls. “Something I was always worried about throughout my career, that these big horses would get sick. During the Triple Crown with ‘Pharoah’ and Justify I went all those years and finally it hits. I think that’s what every trainer worries about is sickness. When they get sick and they’re travelling, that’s why it hit him so hard.”
Muth has now won three races in a row. He broke his maiden first out and then ran second in last year’s G3 Best Pal, followed by a win in the G1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita and a runner-up finish to Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He started this year with victories in the G2 San Vicente and G1 Arkansas Derby before falling ill in May.
“That was a really tough race,” Baffert noted of this year’s Shared Belief. “There were some good 3-year-olds. It was like a Grade two race. There are no easy spots down here at Del Mar. All of them are going to be tough”
The Shared Belief is still considered to be a ‘listed’ race even though it has produced graded stakes runners for several years now. Last year, the co-winner in the dead-heat for the win, Mr. Fisk, went on to win this year’s G1 Gold Cup. 2021’s winner, Medina Spirit, went on to win the G1 Awesome Again and run second to Knicks Go in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. The 2019 winner of the Shared Belief, Improbable, went on to win the Gold Cup, the G1 Whitney at Saratoga and the Awesome Again. The 2016 winner, Accelerate won an Eclipse Award after taking the TVG Pacific Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2018 and would have been Horse of the Year had it not been for Justify and his Triple Crown triumph that year.
Meanwhile, the future of the other big winner at Del Mar Sunday, Formidable Man, is still undecided. He held off rival Stay Hot to win the G2 Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby for his second victory at the meet. He also won the Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside Stakes on opening day.
“We probably rushed him a little bit after he broke his maiden here (last year),” trainer Mike McCarthy said. “Maybe went a little bit too quick so we backed off and things have just come along for him with each and every race. He seems to get a little bit better. Today he was prominent throughout. The fractions were not all that fast, 50 and change, but he’s getting professional and maturing and he loves his job. A bit like his father who was late maturing, too. It’s exciting to see where this will take us.”
Formidable Man is a son of City of Light, the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner in 2018 who also was trained by McCarthy. The colt seems to like the mile and an eighth, having won an entry level allowance race at that distance at Santa Anita in March and now the Del Mar Derby.
“Winning at a mile and an eighth before this was key,” McCarthy contends. “I kept on waiting for Peter Eurton’s horse (Stay Hot) to come up alongside of us and he did. He ran his race and made his run. We were lucky to get to the wire first.”
As for what’s next for Formidable Man, we’ll have to wait and see.
“There’s a 3-year-old race up at Santa Anita,” McCarthy noted, “but he’s been pretty busy this year so I think we’ll play it by ear.”
That race is the G2 Twilight Derby is run a week before the Breeders’ Cup.
DEL MAR PUTS A WRAP ON 2024 SUMMER MEET WITH JUVENILE STAKES
And down the stretch we come to the end of another summer of exciting Thoroughbred racing at Del Mar. The Pacific Classic is behind us and now it’s time to look to the future. In the world of horse racing there’s always new stars on the horizon and we’ll get a glimpse at a few of those next weekend at Del Mar.
The G1 FanDuel Racing Debutante features the best of the juvenile fillies on the grounds on Saturday and the G1 Del Mar Futurity highlights the best of the 2-year old males on Sunday. There will also be two grass races for the juveniles, the Fillies Turf on Saturday and the Juvenile Turf on Sunday. Squeezed in among all the 2-year-old races this coming weekend is the 67th running of the G2 John Mabee featuring topnotch fillies and mares going a mile and an eighth on the turf.
Kicking off the weekend of stakes races is the $100,000 I’m Smokin Stakes for Cal-bred 2-year-olds going six furlongs. Several horses from last month’s Graduation Stakes have been entered in the race including the winner, R Heisman, from the Peter Miller barn. Shea Brennan, who broke his maiden at first asking at the start of the meet at Del Mar, is also one of the six juveniles in the I’m Smokin on Friday.
Trainer Bob Baffert brings the presumptive favorites to the Debutante and the Futurity. Nooni has been very impressive in her young career. She comes in off of a win in the G3 Sorrento. Baffert also has nominated Casalu and Tenma, while trainer Phil D’Amato is considering Vodka With a Twist, who finished second to Nooni in the Sorrento.
On Sunday, the undefeated Getaway Car is expected to go off as the favorite in the Futurity off of his sparkling win in the G3 Best Pal last month. Mischief River, the runner up to Getaway Car in the Best Pal, albeit by 5 ½ lengths, is also expected.
Of the 19 horses nominated for Saturday’s Juvenile Fillies Turf, five would be making their U.S. debuts after beginning their careers overseas. There are also a couple of fillies who broke their maiden first time out from the John Sadler and O.J. Jauregui barns and, if Baffert doesn’t start Casalu in the Debutante, he may try her on the grass in this one.
As for the juvenile grass race on Sunday, the nominees include two first-time starters in the U.S. from the D’Amato and Mark Glatt barns and a son of Catalina Cruiser, who broke his maiden first time out last month at Del Mar.
The G2 John Mabee is the last of the graded stakes for older horses at the meet. It could feature an intriguing matchup between the G2 Yellow Ribbon winner, Anisette, and Didia, a multiple-graded stakes winner who won the G1 New York at Saratoga two races back and the G2 City of Hope at Santa Anita in 2023.
Also on the list of 15 nominees are Fuente Ovejuna and Uncorked, dead-heat runner-up finishers to Anisette in the Yellow Ribbon; Linda’s Gift, runner-up in the CTT & TOC last month at Del Mar, and two nominations by trainer Graham Motion, South African-bred Beach Bomb and Mission of Joy.
FATHER, DAUGHTER COMBO WORKS IN THE LEONARD POWELL BARN
Most 14-year-old girls spend the week going to school, then coming home, doing their homework and laying on the couch watching TV, playing a video game or chatting with friends on Tic Toc. On the weekends maybe they’ll play a sport or some activity that gets them outside but, for the most part, it’s much of the same without the school. Most are good kids just doing what teenagers do.
Jeanne Powell is an exception. When she’s not in school, she’s helping tend to the horses at her father’s barn on the backside at Del Mar. Jeanne is the daughter of trainer Leonard Powell. Her time at Del Mar isn’t some punishment for not cleaning her room. She wants to help Dad with the family business. She loves being around horses.
“It’s something that’s been a huge passion for me since I was very young,” Jeanne says. “Around here I lend a hand whenever the grooms or hot walkers need anything. I just do whatever is needed.”
You’ll often find Jeanne by her Dad’s side in the paddock before a race, helping him unsaddle a horse on the track after a race and in the winners circle when they win. She’s engaging beyond her years when you talk to her, a big smile on her face when she’s talking about horses like Yellow Ribbon winner Anisette.
“I’ve been here since she first got here,” Jeanne remarks. “She’s always been a special filly. Sometimes in the afternoons I go sit in her stall and give her carrots, something I enjoy because she’s so sweet and she has quite a bit of a personality. She has good days and bad days and you can tell in the morning when you walk into her stall if she’s going to have a good day.”
While some teenagers sleep in until noon, Jeanne is up with her father and at the barn by four in the morning.
“I took riding lessons when I was young,” Jeanne recalls. “One day my Dad took me to the barn and I’ve come every morning since.”
Except on school days, per Mom’s instructions.
“On school days my Mom doesn’t like me to come here,” Jeanne states with a smile. “She says I’ll be too tired for school. My Mom does like it (coming to the barn), because I’m outside all of the time. I’m not sitting at home doing nothing. But sometimes I prioritize the horses over my school and she doesn’t like that too much.”
School is in Burbank at the Lycee International of Los Angeles where they teach both French and English.
“I went back to school on the 28th (last Wednesday) even though I didn’t want to go back,” Jeanne says, voicing the sentiment of most 14-year olds.
“She really enjoys her time here,” Frenchman Powell says of his daughter. “She’s been very helpful. She doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. It’s very nice to share a passion.”
Jeanne also has some side projects she’s working on.
“I ride show jumpers as well,” she states, “and I have an off-the-track Thoroughbred that I’m retraining, with my trainer, to turn him into a jumper. His name is High Heater. He was with Bob Hess and retired in December. My school has a really nice program where instead of doing sports I ride. That’s what I do so I can ride a couple more days a week.”
As for her future, training may or may not be the path Jeanne takes.
“I’m not sure,” she say. “If an opportunity comes along I’d love to try. I’ll see how it goes when I get out of school.”
COOLING OUT: Following today’s fourth race, the winners of the jockeys, trainers and owners titles from last summer will be rewarded. Juan Hernandez, Phil D’Amato and Paul Reddam will all receive a beautiful Longines watch...Umberto Rispoli was in Kentucky Saturday so he missed out on all the fun of Pacific Classic Day. He made up for lost time Sunday by scoring a hat trick. The three victories came in races one, five and eight, allowing him to cross $2 million in earnings for the meet. Rispoli still trails Hernandez in the standings by 14 victories…Lost in all of the excitement of Pacific Classic Day was the big longshot winner in the second race. Jockey Jeremy Laprida booted home Carol’s Comic at 54-1. The win ticket was enough to make your day at $111.20…Notable works for Monday: Dirt – R Heisman (4f, :47.80); Coffee in Bed (5f, 1:01.80); Desert Dawn (5f, 1:01.20); Stronghold (5f, :59.60); National Treasure (6f, 1:12.60), and Newgate (6f, 1:13.60). A total of 109 horses put in official workouts at Del Mar on Monday