Freedom's Not Free © Benoit Photo
The final stakes race of opening weekend is a contentious affair that pits older horses in a one-mile test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. The race often serves as a prep for either the G2 Del Mar Mile or the G2 Del Mar Handicap later in the meet. Several contenders in the Wickerr are past stakes winners at Del Mar. Seven of the nine entries have won a stakes race during their career.
Trainer Mark Glatt brings a trio of horses to the dance including one of the favorites in Freedom’s Not Free. The son of Omaha Beach is coming off a nose victory in the G3 Daytona on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course last month, his first outing since running second to The Padre in last year’s G2 Del Mar Derby.
“He ran excellent off the comeback,” Glatt recalls. “I wasn’t sure he could win going six and a half down the hill and he needed every inch of it but he got there. It’s always good to see a horse come back off of a layoff and perform well because you never know for sure.”
Glatt says the 10-month layoff was by design.
“He had had a pretty good campaign up to that point,” Glatt notes,” and it just felt like he needed a good rest so he got it.”
Glatt also sends out Mi Hermano Ramon, winner of the 2024 G2 Seabiscuit at Del Mar. He has raced eight times since that fall day and has yet to get back to the winner’s circle, though he came close in last year’s G1 Shoemaker Mile, missing by a neck. He returned and ran in this year’s Shoemaker finishing sixth but Glatt liked the effort.
“I thought he ran very well last time,” Glatt says. “He only got beat 2 ½ lengths and showed quite a bit of run in the race so I think he’ll move forward off of that.”
Glatt’s third entry in the race is First Peace, the 2024 winner of the Wickerr. He also returned from an extended layoff in the Daytona and finished third, 1 ½ lengths behind his stablemate.
“He didn’t have the cleanest of trips or I think he would have been closer to the two in front of him,” Glatt states. “He’s won this race in the past so he’s certainly quite capable of going the one mile.”
King of Gosford is dropping out of graded stakes company into the Wickerr. In his last outing he finished third in the G1 Shoemaker, just 1 ½ lengths behind the winner Formidable Man.
“I thought he ran a valiant race last time in a grade one,” trainer Phil D’Amato says. “It was his third off the bench and I think he’s steadily rounding into form and it looks to be a good spot for him.”
One of the more intriguing entries in the race is Atitlan, a horse that hasn’t run since finishing third in a three-way blanket finish in the G2 Del Mar Handicap last summer. He was in the barn of trainer John Shirreffs who passed away in February and is now with Richard Mandella.
“He had been turned out for a minor injury,” Mandella claims. “It was time for him to come back into training about the time that John passed. A mile might be a little short for him but he’s training really well. I expect he’ll run well but he’ll be better when he runs longer, like in the Del Mar Handicap.”
The $100,000 Wickerr will be Race 9 on the 11-race Sunday program. Probable post time is 6 p.m.
Here’s the field from the inside post with the jockeys and morning line odds: Freedom’s Not Free (Antonio Fresu, 5-1); Atitlan (Hector I Berrios, 6-1); Twirling Point (Ricky Gonzalez, 12-1); Artislas (Juan Hernandez, 12-1); King of Gosford (Umberto Rispoli, 5/2); Mi Hermano Ramon (Joel Rosario, 5-1); Captain Choochies (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1); First Peace (Mike Smith, 4-1) and American Hope (Armando Ayuso, 12-1).