Formidable Man © Benoit Photo
They must have known what they had when they named him because the horse called Formidable Man has become, well, formidable. Especially at Del Mar where he is five-for-five on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
Formidable Man will try to add the G2 Del Mar Mile to his impressive resume when he takes on seven rivals in the grass contest, part of the sparkling Pacific Classic undercard on Saturday.
His trainer, Michael McCarthy, had a feeling the son of City of Light would be a good one.
“I had an idea when he broke his maiden first time out,” McCarthy says.
He’s gone on to win six of his next 13 races with a couple of seconds. Last year he came to Del Mar as a 3-year-old and ran three times, winning all three races. He won the Oceanside on opening day, the G2 Del Mar Derby later that summer and then the G1 Hollywood Derby during the Fall Turf Festival in November. He’s come back this summer and won the G2 Eddie Read.
“Obviously the horse has got an affinity for Del Mar,” McCarthy notes. “The Breeders’ Cup is here and you have to be thinking that way.”
But first he’s got to take care of a talented group of runners in the Del Mar Mile, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner, Full Serrano, who will be making his 2025 debut.
In December, while training for the G2 Laffit Pincay, Jr at Santa Anita, Full Serrano suffered an injury that trainer John Sadler at the time termed “minor” and required at least 60-days off.
“He had some things we needed to take care of,” Sadler adds. “He needed the time this winter so we gave him the time and he’s coming back and training well. We’re anxious to get him started again.”
Full Serrano returned to the work tab at the beginning of July and has put in eight works, six at Del Mar. The Argentine-bred, who ran second in last year’s Pacific Classic, worked five furlongs on Sunday in :59.60 (9/91).
Prior to arriving in the States last year, Full Serrano was running on grass in Argentina.
“The surface is not an issue for him,” Sadler contends.
King of Gosford will make his first start since his breakout win in the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Memorial Day. He ran second to Formidable Man in the Hollywood Derby last year, but rebounded nicely by winning the G2 Mathis Mile a month later.
“He’s doing very well,” D’Amato says. “It was a big effort (in the Shoemaker) and this has been our plan all along, to wait for this race and hopefully he comes back as good as he did in his last race.”
D’Amato believes the mile may be King of Gosford’s best distance.
“I think he’s a versatile horse,” D’Amato states. “He’ll probably stretch out a little bit farther but I like him at a mile.”
D’Amato will also run Almendares in the Del Mar Mile. The English-bred is coming off a victory in the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar last month.
“I think his confidence is through the roof right now,” D’Amato says. “That’s where he has to be to win the Del Mar Mile and I really like how he’s trained.”
D’Amato doesn’t think they’ve reached Almendares’ ceiling yet.
“He’s a horse that’s maturing,” D’Amato notes, “and he’s always been a horse that needed confidence to go to the next level. He’s a horse that’s not easy to ride, you really have to time his move and I think Antonio (Fresu) did a masterful job last time.”
Another horse worth watching is the veteran 6-year-old gelding Cabo Spirit, runner-up to Formidable Man in the G2 Eddie Read last time out. He was also involved in a three-horse blanket finish with King of Gosford in the G1 Shoemaker Mile. The son of Pioneerof the Nile won the G2 John Henry Turf Classic at Santa Anita last year.
The G2 Del Mar Mile is first of the five graded stakes on the Saturday card. It goes off at Race 5. Probable post is 3:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail out with the jockeys: Nesso’s Lastharrah (Hector I. Berrios); Cabo Spirit (Mike Smith); Almendares (Antonio Fresu); Formidable Man (Umberto Rispoli); Suchet (Paco Lopez); Zio Jo (Kyle Frey); King of Gosford (Flavien Prat), and Full Serrano (Juan Hernandez).