A wise old man once said as his horse opened up and separated from the pack coming down the lane, “It’s all over but the shouting.”

That certainly applies to the trainers’ race at Del Mar this summer. A victory appears out-of-reach for everyone chasing Doug O’Neill. His 24 wins are 10 better than his closest rival Philip D’Amato. O’Neill has entries in 16 races through Sunday. Of his 101 starts, the most of any trainer this season, O’Neill’s horses have finished in the money 51% of the time.

After the top two, the trainer standings get bunched up with Peter Miller’s 12 victories, George Papaprodromou’s 11, and John Sadler, Bob Baffert, and Mark Glatt with 10. 

Michael McCarthy and Jeff Mullins start the week with nine wins and Tim Yakteen and Craig Lewis round out the Top Ten with seven.

D’Amato leads with five stakes wins. He also has the highest earnings of all the trainers with $1,800,236.

There’s still an outside chance the defending champ in the jockeys’ race could put together a big week and pull out a come-from-behind victory.

Juan Hernandez currently sits six wins behind Joel Rosario, the leader in the jockeys’ standings. Hernandez has made 30 trips to the winner’s circle this season, five of those coming last week, including two graded stakes wins. That keeps him within striking distance of Rosario.  Hernandez will play his Bob Baffert card this weekend in at least three of the big races, the Debutante, the Futurity and the Shared Belief.

Antonio Fresu announced he’s moving his tack back east after this summer and promptly went out and had the best week of everyone with eight victories. He currently sits third in the standings with 26 wins.

Umberto Rispoli and Emisael Jaramillo are next with 20 followed by Kazushi Kimura with 18, Armando Ayuso with 16, Hector I. Berrios with 14 and Tyler Baze with nine. Tiago Pereira and Joe Bravo round out the Top Ten with seven.

While Hernandez’ title is on the line this week, his hold on the most stakes wins this summer looks secure. His run last weekend has him up to nine stakes victories. His closest competitor is Rispoli with five. The record for stakes wins in a season at Del Mar is 15 by Flavien Prat in 2020. 

Reddam Racing picked up another win last week and continues to sit atop the owners’ standings with nine victories. Hronis Racing and Run Fast Racing are next with five.

Average Field Size remains steady at 8.50 as we enter the final week of racing at Del Mar. It might increase a bit this week as more trainers try to get in one more race before the meet ends. There have been 2,124 starters this summer, lower than last year at this time but higher than 2024. 

Thanks to Bill Nader, president of the TOC for this tidbit: Despite running nine less races in August, Del Mar still posted a 16.5% market share across the country. That’s up from 15.6% in August of 2025. Combined with Saratoga’s market share in August, the two tracks made up 56% of the wagering market last month.

Thursday marks the beginning of the final week of racing at Del Mar. It’s a five-day race week with the Labor Day holiday on Monday. Post time will move up to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.