Observed © Benoit Photo

An eastern-based colt named Observed shipped to Del Mar for Saturday’s Del Mar Juvenile Turf and came away a three-quarter length winner in the $101,500 Grade III offering.

The winner, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm and LaPenta, made a nice move late and fired through the lane to get the job done. He wound up running the mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course in 1:36.40 to earn a first prize of $60,000. It was his second victory in his second start.

The Mandaloun colt, trained by Jonathan Thomas, now has two scores in two starts and earnings of $79,200. He was handled by Juan Hernandez, who was capturing his 10th stakes at the summer meet. The winner paid $15.40 for $2.

Finishing second was the 7/5 favorite Shadow Nation, owned by Slugo Racing and partners. That colt had a length on Altamira Racing Stable’s Off in the Corner.

JUAN HERNANDEZ (Observed, winner) – “I spoke to the trainer and he told me that the horse was very smart. That I could do pretty much what I wanted to do with him. I watched the replay of his last race and saw they he broke sharply. But today he came away from there a step slow. But he was very professional about it all; he was relaxed all the way around. It worked out well.”

JONATHAN THOMAS (Observed, winner) – “We’re really pleased with the result. As we thought there was going to be a lot of pace,   we found ourselves a little farther back than ideal but I thought Juan (Hernandez) did a great job of sitting chilly and cool and waiting for a good seam. The horse had a lot of momentum and got the job done. He really polished the race off nicely. I’m really proud of him.”

FRACTIONS:  :22.48  :48.04  1:12.54  1:24.37  1:36.40

The stakes win was the 10th of the meet for rider Hernandez and his second in this stakes (Endlessly, 2023). He now has 75 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Thomas and his first in this race. He now has six stakes wins at Del Mar. 

The winning owners are Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and LaPenta.