Pavlovian © Benoit Photo
A talented group of Cal-breds are set to square off in the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes, the Friday feature at Del Mar. The 11 3-year-olds will go seven furlongs on the main track.
One of the competitors is fresh off the Derby Trail. Pavlovian is back from Kentucky where he ran last in the Kentucky Derby and then seventh of eight in the G3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs.
The connections caught Derby fever in February when the son of Pavel won the $500,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park. He followed that with a runner-up finish in the G2 Louisiana Derby in March after setting the pace and getting run down on the wire, missing by a head.
Bolstered by the two outings it was on to Louisville where Pavlovian never made the lead and was essentially eased, finishing 48 ½ lengths behind Golden Tempo in the Derby. They tried one more race in Kentucky before packing up and bringing him back home to California.
“It was different weather and a different environment,” Leondro Mora assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill noted about Pavlovian’s time in Kentucky. “It could have been mental. A lot of horses when they reach the stage of the Kentucky Derby, it’s not for all of them. He’s happier to be back in California.”
Shortening up to seven furlongs should help.
“He’s got natural speed,” Mora says. “That’s how he started out running out front. I know the race is not easy but last time we gave him a little blowout and he’s ready.”
He’ll have to contend with Ocean Bear, last year’s Golden State Juvenile winner at Del Mar on the undercard of the Friday Breeders’ Cup program. It was the son of Bolt d’Oro’s third win in a row. But he hasn’t run since so the Real Good Deal will be his 2026 / 3-year-old debut.
“He had a chip in his knee,” trainer George Papaprodromou says. “We took it out and gave him some time off and now he’s back and doing great.”
Ocean Bear beat Pavlovian in an entry level allowance race last October, coming from off the pace, as is his style.
“Hopefully a few horses will go out there a little fast,” Papaprodromou notes. “That will help us a little bit.”
The runner-up in the Los Alamitos Derby is entered in the Real Good Deal. Start the Ride won the $175,000 Cal Cup Derby at Santa Anita earlier this year, igniting a bit of Derby fever in trainer Dan Blacker’s camp.
“When he first came in he looked like a two-turn dirt horse,” Blacker explains. “Once he got to the races he showed some ability. When you have one of those type of horses in the early part of his 3-year-old year you always want to dream and hope that they can be good enough to make the big races. When he broke his maiden in a stake it was obvious we had to give him a shot in those races.”
The son of Upstart finished sixth in the G2 San Felipe and then a well beaten fifth in the G1 Santa Anita Derby and the hopes and wishes of getting to Louisville on the first Saturday in May were extinguished. Blacker shortened him up and he won an entry level allowance in May before his second at Los Al last month.
“I was disappointed he didn’t win,” Blacker admits. “He ran great, that’s the important thing. Getting back against Cal-breds again should be an easier group.”
Two lightly raced geldings could make a Real Good Deal impact. Courtside Action has run twice in his young career and won both times. He broke his maiden in a six-furlong sprint at Santa Anita, winning by 5 ½ lengths in April and then won an entry level allowance race by 4 ¼ lengths his next time out.
“I think it’s a good spot,” trainer Andy Mathis contends. “He’s exceeded our expectations from when he first started working. He didn’t show a whole bunch. But his workouts leading up to the races were getting better. Then he ran really well the first time. So, there’s been a steady progression.”
Courtside Action will have to deal with the inside post.
“Coming to Del Mar you never know if it’s going to be the same for the horse,” Mathis claims. “We’re happy with the way he’s acclimated and very happy with his last workout leading up to this race.”
That was a five-furlong work in 1:00.20 last Friday (10/58).
There’s also Lit, a winner first out at Los Alamitos earlier this month when he won by five lengths.
“We always liked him,” trainer Richard Baltas says. “We thought the race was too short but we were wrong. Seven-eighths or a mile should be best for him. The horse is training well and doing good so we’re going to take a shot.”
The Real Good Deal, named after a talented Cal-bred that dominated the state-bred races from 1963 to 1966, is Race 7 on the eight-race program Friday. Probable post is 5 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Courtside Action (Ricky Gonzalez, 6-1); Southern Melodee (Kazushi Kimura, 30-1); King’s Ride (Juan Hernandez, 10-1); Lit (Hector I Berrios, 6-1); Party Animal (Jose Morelos, 12-1); Fumano’s Magic (Diego Herrera, 30-1); Fionello (Tiago Pereira, 20-1); Pavlovian (Edwin Maldonado, 7/2); He’s a Knockout (Joel Rosario, 5-1); Ocean Bear (Umberto Rispoli, 5-1), and Start the Ride (Armando Ayuso, 4-1).