DEL MAR LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Juan Hernandez / 32
Umberto Rispoli / 23
Antonio Fresu / 22
Hector Berrios / 16
Kyle Frey / 15
Edwin Maldonado / 12
Trainers / Wins
Bob Baffert / 14
John Sadler / 13
Mark Glatt / 13
Peter Miller / 12
Phil D’Amato / 12
Doug O’Neill / 11
WEEKEND STAKES
DEL MAR
Saturday
• $1 million, Grade I Pacific Classic, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles
• $300,000, Grade II Del Mar Handicap, 3 and up, 1 3/8 miles on turf
• $300,000, Grade II Del Mar Mile, 3 and up, 1 mile on turf
• $150,000, Grade III Green Flash Handicap, 3 and up, 5 furlongs on turf
• $150,000, Grade III Torrey Pines Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile
Sunday
• $300,000, Grade II Del Mar Derby, 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles on turf
• $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile
Monday
• $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes, California-bred 2-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs
• $100,000 Tranquility Lake Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 mile
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Muth (Juan Hernandez riding) heads a field of seven for the Shared Belief Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar, his first race since his Arkansas Derby win in March. Bob Baffert also entered Imagination (Kazushi Kimura) and Wynstock (Kyle Frey). The trainer said it’s a prep for either the Sept. 28 California Crown at Santa Anita or the Sept. 21 Pennsylvania Derby.
• The Pacific Classic Day undercard at Del Mar on Saturday features 2023 stakes winners seeking repeats: Phil D’Amato-trained Gold Phoenix (Frey) in the Del Mar Handicap, which the gelding also won in 2022; Bob Baffert-trained Du Jour (Hernandez) in the Del Mar Mile, and D’Amato’s Motorious (Antonio Fresu) in the Green Flash Handicap.
• The 11-race card Saturday starts at 1:30 p.m. as first post moves a half-hour earlier most days for the rest of the meet; it remains 3 p.m. on Fridays. This is a five-day racing week, including holiday racing Monday.
• Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella will be honored Saturday at Del Mar with the Laffit PIncay Jr. Award, which goes to someone each year who has served horse racing “with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction.” Pincay, the Hall of Fame jockey who won a track-record 1,013 races at Del Mar, will present the prize.
• Raging Torrent’s hard-fought upset of The Chosen Vron in the Pat O’Brien Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar, clocked in 1:21.17 for 7 furlongs, earning impressive speed figures: 125 from Equibase, the highest in any stakes in North America in 2024, and 104 from Andrew Beyer, making it the joint-third fastest 7-furlong race this year on the Beyer rating scale.
• Fierceness jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 in the weekly ranking of Breeders’ Cup Classic contenders after his narrow win over the filly Thorpedo Anna in the Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga. Next are Arthur’s Ride, City of Troy, Forever Young, Dornoch, Senor Buscador, National Treasure, Ushba Tesoro, Derma Sotogake and Thorpedo Anna in the top 10 voted by racing reporters, handicappers and officials. The Travers, clocked in 2:01.79 for 1 1/4 miles, received a 111 Beyer figure, the best on dirt this year.
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• In an unusual moment at Los Alamitos on Sunday, Empressum and jockey Rodrigo Vallejo won the Go Man Go Handicap after Jeriko and Jose Nicasio were disqualified to last for interfering with Tha Duke and Jesus Ayala early in the 400-yard race for quarter horses. What’s unusual is that all three horses ran for the same trainer, Heath Taylor.
• Los Alamitos owner and CEO Ed Allred announced a purse reduction for the Dec. 14 Champion of Champions, from $700,000 to $600,000. In a news release, Allred called it a response to a financial hit Los Al will take under the new formula for financing California Horse Racing Board operations. The Champion of Champions will still be the nation’s richest race for older quarter horses.
— Kevin Modesti
