Getaway Car © Benoit Photo
BAFFERT BRINGS THREE IN BID FOR 18TH G1 DEL MAR FUTURITY VICTORY
It’s always a fitting way to put a cap on the summer meet’s stakes schedule by running a race filled with potential stars of the future. The G1 Del Mar Futurity will be run Sunday. It has attracted seven juvenile colts, three from the Bob Baffert barn.
All three have won at Del Mar this summer. In the case of Getaway Car, he’s won twice. The son of Curlin broke his maiden at first asking, winning by 3 ½ lengths on opening day. He came back and dominated the G3 Best Pal last month, winning by 5 ½ lengths.
“This guy’s been a lot of fun,” Baffert said. “He has a great name. He’s doing well and he’s fast. He’s always been very forward, no issues training him and he has a beautiful stride.”
Gaming is another impressive first-time-out winner entered in the Futurity by Baffert. The son of Game Winner broke his maiden on the same card as Getaway Car’s Best Pal win (August 11), crossing the line 5 ½ lengths to the best. His sire is a horse Baffert trained in 2018 and ’19.
“We buy these horses and they send them to me,” Baffert notes about the progeny of horses he once trained. “You just hope they win for their sires. It’s like watching your kids grow up.”
Baffert, who has won the Del Mar Futurity a remarkable 17 times, also has Citizen Bull entered in the race. The son of Into Mischief broke his maiden at first asking on August 17.
“I thought he would need the race,” Baffert concedes. “But he ran well. We think he’s pretty good.”
Expect a wild scramble on the front end. Getaway Car and Gaming wired the fields in their races and breaking from the inside usually means they will be gunning for position on the front end.
McKinzie Street, a son of McKinzie (another horse Baffert trained), also wired the field when he broke his maiden first out.
“I think he may be a little more versatile,” trainer Tim Yakteen states. “The nice thing is he has a tactical way about him and he does have a good mind.”
R Heisman, winner of the Graduation Stakes for Cal-breds last month, was scratched out of Friday’s I’m Smokin to run in the Futurity. Trainer Peter Miller saying they want to see where he stacks up against the others in his class. Miller has also entered Brother Tony.
Rank has the distinction of running against both Getaway Car and Gaming and he’ll take another crack at them Sunday. The son of Honor A.P. ran fourth, 7 ¼ lengths behind Getaway Car in his debut, then was the best of the rest when he ran a distant second to Gaming last month.
“We believe in him a lot that’s why he’s in there,” says Leondro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill. “He gave us a good second the last time.”
Rank comes into the Futurity as a maiden.
The 77th running of the G1 Del Mar Futurity will go off as the 10th race on the 11-race card on closing day. Probable post is 6 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Getaway Car (Juan Hernandez, 6/5); Gaming (Flavien Prat, 7/2); R Heisman (Umberto Rispoli, 20-1); Brother Tony (Reylu Gutierrez, 10-1); Rank (Antonio Fresu, 15-1); McKinzie Street (Kazushi Kimura, 4-1), and Citizen Bull (Mike Smith, 9/2).
BENEFITS OF FLEXIBLE RAIL ON FULL DISPLAY FRIDAY AT DEL MAR
The inner rail on the Jimmy Durante turf course lived up to its billing in Friday’s third race at Del Mar. It’s a flexible rail, made of strong and lightweight PVC plastic, that’s designed to bend when a horse brushes against it.
It will also break apart if slammed into like Watershed Moment did when she shied from right-handed urging from jockey Armando Ayuso. She jumped into the rail which burst apart, plastic tubing flying every which way. It happened where the chute empties out onto the turf course so after breaking through the rail, Watershed Moment found her momentum carrying her into a tight spot between where the chute rail and turf course rail meet. She burst through the narrow intersection and continued down the turf course.
Ayuso stayed aboard Watershed Moment who stayed upright throughout. The daughter of Omaha Beach was leading the race at the time of the incident. She, of course, was disqualified once she left the course. The rest of the field had passed her by the time she came to a stop a few feet past the finish line.
Ayuso appeared injured after dismounting the filly and was visibly limping but he returned to ride in the next race. Watershed Moment returned to the Richard Baltas barn with a cut on her back leg and a scrape on her front leg but otherwise sound and will race another day.
The rail is designed by Mawsafe, an Australian company, and was installed at Del Mar in 2013 as another measure to keep horses and riders safe. Turf Superintendent John Beggin said parts of the rail were broken in yesterday’s incident but his crew was able to reassemble the fencing in time for the next turf race.
Another incident occurred last summer when a horse went into the rail entering the first turn. The rail bent but did not break and kept the horse and rider upright, just like it was designed to do. A similar rail lines the main track.
DIDIA RETURNS TO CALIFORNIA FOR JOHN MABEE, BREEDERS’ CUP
Anisette has ruled the roost here on the west coast this year but she’s about to get tested by an outsider Saturday when Merriebelle Stables brings Didia to Del Mar to race in in the G2 John Mabee.
Didia is an Argentine-bred who has traded punches with some of the best fillies and mares back east. Now she’s returning to Southern California to prepare for another shot at the Breeders’ Cup.
“Firm turf and it’s the race for the Breeders’ Cup,” trainer Ignacios Correas explained for why they’ve come to Del Mar to run. “Being at Del Mar it is granted that you’re going to have a firm turf and to get to know the course for her is more important.”
Didia came out west last year prior to the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.
“It worked pretty well because we won the prep and it was a “Win and You’re In,” Correas noted. “This year is a completely different situation. We are already in by points.”
Last year Didia won the G2 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita in October but then finished 10th in the Filly and Mare Turf. She’ll point to the same race again at Del Mar in November.
This year Didia has won two quality races, the G2 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park in January and the G1 New York at Saratoga in June. She runs well every time, finishing third in the G1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April and a close fourth in the G1 Diana at Saratoga last out in July.
“It was very easy on the front,” Correas contends about Didia’s run in the Diana. “When you give that pace to a good horse you’re (in trouble). She got beat a length and a quarter, she didn’t get beat by much. In that race there were seven Grade I winners. There’s a little bit of a difference in the quality of the horses. We got beat by Grade One winners in one of the most important races in the United States. Some of them you win, some of them you lose.”
For Didia, losing doesn’t happen very often. She has 11 wins in 18 starts with two seconds and a third and earnings exceeding $1.5 million. She’s owned by Merriebelle Stables, who also raced another Argentine-bred, Blue Prize, the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner. Correas has been training for Merriebelle for about eight years. He’s expecting another good performance out of Didia this weekend.
“She shipped well and is doing okay,” Correas says. “She’s easy to train, good horses are.”
The 67th running of the G2 John Mabee, named after the owner of the once-popular Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona and breeder of Best Pal, goes off as the ninth race on the 11-race Saturday card. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Anisette (Umberto Rispoli, 7/5); Hang the Moon (Kazushi Kimura, 20-1); Lucky Girl (Mike Smith, 15-1); Uncorked (Antonio Fresu, 10-1); Royal Charter (Diego Herrera, 20-1); Didia (Hector I. Berrios, 4/5), and Fuente Ovejuna (Juan Hernandez, 20-1).
IVAN THE GREAT LEADS O’NEILL TRIO IN G3 JUVENILE TURF SUNDAY
Full and competitive fields await race fans on closing day at Del Mar. 139 horses are entered in the 11-race Sunday card, 12 of which will run in the G3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf.
Trainer Doug O’Neill, fresh off his upset win in the G1 Fanduel Racing Pacific Classic last weekend, is back with three horses in the Juvenile Turf. Ivan the Great is coming in off of his maiden win last month. The son of Kantharos came with a sustained run down the lane and got up in the final strides.
“He’s running to his name,” assistant trainer Leandro Mora jokes. “Let’s hope it stays that way. We saw that he really loves turf and distance. He’s one of those horses you love to have around the barn.”
Tiz Happy is another O’Neill entry. He broke his maiden at first asking in a turf sprint at Santa Anita in June and then got smoked by Getaway Car on the main track in the Best Pal. The trouble line in the Daily Racing Form said he ‘climbed early.’
“He’s very immature,” Mora stated, “but he’s changing a little bit. I’m not a hundred percent if he’s back to where we want him to be but he’s got a shot.”
The son of Runhappy will be returning to the grass on Sunday.
Pali Kitten is just the opposite. He ran a tiring fifth in his debut on the turf, then came back two weeks later and won on the dirt.
“He’s bred for grass,” Mora insists, “but the way he ran on the dirt it’s possible he might be a dirt horse.”
There are plenty of challengers to the O’Neill trio. Run for Kidder is coming in off of his maiden win in a five furlong sprint. After running second in his debut at Los Alamitos in July, the son of Stay Thirsty wired the field at Del Mar last month.
“He was real game in that race,” trainer Adam Kitchingman says. “He wasn’t going to let those horses go by him. The added distance will be a factor though his pedigree says ‘no’ and there’s the step up in class. So there are a lot questions. You don’t know until you try but he’s been training great and we didn’t have any other options for the grass so I figured we just give it a shot.”
Show of Force broke his maiden last out going one mile on the Jimmy Durante turf course and looks to be a good fit in the Juvenile Turf.
“The horse is really talented and doing great,” trainer Todd Fincher states. “He should keep getting better as we go. We hope he improves off of that (maiden win) and run a bigger race. I really think he’s better on the dirt but they want to run him long.”
Sabertooth has run second in both of his maiden tries, both at one mile on the turf. He lost to Show of Force in his debut and then got beat by a neck by Ivan the Great last out. The son of Grazen races out of the Tim Yakteen barn.
Uncle Dude is trainer Phil D’Amato’s lone entry in the race. He was third to Ivan the Great and Sabertooth last out, only beaten 1 ¼ lengths in the end.
An Chorr Dubh will be making her U.S. debut against the boys.
The 13th running of the G3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf is the ninth race on the 11-race Sunday program. Probable post is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Artislas (Reylu Gutierrez, 6-1); Run for Kidder (Joe Talamo, 8-1); An Chorr Dubh (Flavien Prat, 5-1); Coach Chuck (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Show of Force (Mike Smith, 30-1); Ivan The Great (Antonio Fresu, 8-1); Tiz Happy (Kyle Frey, 15-1); Scipio (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); Sabertooth (Kazushi Kimura, 12-1); Mischief River (Cesar Ortega, 4-1); Pali Kitten (Juan Hernandez, 20-1); Toppers At Seaside (Mario Gutierrez, 30-1); Uncle Dude (Armando Ayuso, 12-1); Johnson’s Magic (Hector I. Berrios, 8-1); AE: Snowdonia (Hector I. Berrios, 30-1), and Panuco (Armando Ayuso, 30-1).
COOLING OUT: Jockey Flavien Prat is named to ride in two races at Del Mar on closing day. Prat, who just set a record for the number of stakes wins at a meet at Saratoga with 18, will ride An Chorr Dubh for trainer Mark Glatt in the G3 Juvenile Turf and then Gaming for trainer Bob Baffert in the G1 Futurity…Notable works on Saturday: Dirt – Tamara (3f, :35.20); Sunset Glory (4f, :49.60); Sweet Azteca (4f, :47.20), and Johannes (5f, 1:00.00). A total of 119 horses put in official works at Del Mar on Saturday.