Motorious © Benoit Photo
Eleven of the quickest horses on the grounds will vie for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint this fall at Del Mar when they lock horns in the Grade III Green Flash Saturday, part of the tremendous undercard for the Pacific Classic. The five furlong dash on the grass is as contentious as ever, leading one trainer to speculate that the Green Flash will not be a Grade 3 for long.
Motorious is back for another try, hoping to go back-to-back-to-back in the same race, much like his stablemate Gold Phoenix did in the Grade II Del Mar Handicap last year. The English-bred is coming off a sparkling 2025 debut in the Grade III Daytona in June at Santa Anita.
“He was just doing so good I needed to run him,” trainer Phil D’Amato says. “With his late kick he just opened up on the field. That’s hard to do, opening up and winning by daylight.”
Motorious won the 2023 Green Flash and then finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint behind Nobals. He returned last year and won the Green Flash again, but this time missed by just a neck to Starlust in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar last fall.
Queen Maxima shortens back up to sprinting which she was so successful with earlier this year. Trainer Jeff Mullins tried her at a mile last time out and she finished sixth. She was riding a five-race win streak going into the Osunitas.
“She’s not a miler,” Mullins admits. “I wish I hadn’t run her in the mile now. Sometimes the mile dulls their speed.”
Still, Mullins is pleased with how she’s working up to the race. The daughter of Bucchero will be going against the boys in the Green Flash but it’s not by design.
“Nowhere else to run her,” Mullins noted. He’s not happy being hung outside in the 11-hole though she does have Motorious just to her inside.
First Peace will be making his first start of 2025. Last year’s $100,000 Wickerr Stakes winner at Del Mar hasn’t raced since he won the Grade II Eddie D at Santa Anita in September.
“He just needed some time off,” trainer Mark Glatt explains. “I don’t think he’s a great five-furlong horse but he’s ready to run. It looks like they’re going to smoke up front early on in the race so perhaps it will set up for a horse that comes from a bit off the pace, which he’ll mostly likely be doing.”
A trio of shippers add some spice to the dash. No Nay Hudson comes into town for trainer Wesley Ward for a second straight year. He ran in last year’s Green Flash and just missed winning it.
“We thought he should have won the race,” assistant trainer Blake Heap recalls. “He got to the front and kind of gave up once he had no target in front of him. They nailed him late at the wire.”
Heap believes coming to Del Mar earlier than they did last year will only help No Nay Hudson.
“Last year he came in the day before the race,” Heap explains. “So he didn’t have time to see the track. So this time he’s been here a little while. He’s worked here and he’s settled in good.”
Coppola is another shipper who could have an impact on the Green Flash. He arrives from the Midwest where he resides in the Dale Romans barn. After splashing around in the deep end with some of the best sprinters in the country earlier this year, Romans gave the son of Into Mischief a class break and he responded, winning the $100,000 William Garrett at Horseshoe Indianapolis before running second in the $250,000 Turf Sprint Preview at Ellis Park.
“It’s five furlongs which we know he likes,” Romans says about why he shipped into Del Mar for Saturday’s race. “He likes the firm ground which we expect to get and a Breeders’ Cup run if he takes us there. It’s a competitive field, a big field. But he’s fast and he’s run with these types before.”
Reef Runner also ships in for the Green Flash. He’s been running in Florida. He was brought out West for the surface.
“He kind of likes a pool table,” trainer David Fawkes contends. “He doesn’t want that long grass. He runs good at Gulfstream, which is a similar surface. There are three ‘Win and You’re In’s’ coming up. Kentucky Downs has one but if it rains we’re finished. There’s one at Saratoga where I’ve been there and done that. So we wanted to try this.”
The Grade III Green Flash is named after an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs at sunset off the California coast. It’s the ninth race on Saturday’s 11-race card. Probable post is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail out with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Beyond Brilliant (Ricardo Gonzalez, 20-1); No Nay Hudson (Kazushi Kimura, 12-1); Coppola (Vincent Chenimaud, 10-1); Sorrento Sky (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); Virat (Hector I. Berrios, 15-1); Book Smart (Edwin Maldonado, 20-1); Boss Sully (Armando Ayuso, 8-1); Sumter (John Velezquez, 15-1); First Peace (Mike Smith, 5-1); Motorious (Antonio Fresu, 5/2); Queen Maxima (Juan Hernandez, 9/2), and Reef Runner (Paco Lopez, 15-1).