Lieutenant Dan © Benoit Photo

DRAYDEN VAN DYKE (Lieutenant Dan, winner) – “We were going a little fast in the beginning, but he was comfortable. And good horses can do that. The key with him is to get him to switch leads properly. I was on him for his most recent work and we were working on that (changing of leads). Today he did it perfectly.”

MARTIN GARCIA (Oliver, second) – “He gave it a good try. Seven eighths today, the horse that beat him here was better. But get him at a mile……you might see something different.”

JOSEPH TALAMO (Cruel Intention, third) – “We were cruisin’ out there. I had the (winner) inside me and I felt good. We just couldn’t match strides with him late.”

STEVE MIYADI  (Lieutenant Dan, winner) – “The turf  to dirt (switch) was because that’s the Golden State series, we have no choice. The cutback (in distance) meant that I didn’t have to train him as hard and I’m always worried about his weight, so that was a blessing in disguise. We trained him lightly, had one good workout eight or nine days ago, and here we are. We’ll take it. He’ll stay in the Golden State series and probably come back here in the fall for the Cary Grant.”

FRACTIONS:  :21.91  :44.62  1:10.28  1:23.67

The stakes win was the first of the meet and first in the Real Good Deal for rider Van Dyke. He now has 26 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet, but second (Mr. Hinx, 2017) in the Real Good Deal for trainer Miyadi. He now has three stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owner and breeder is Nick Alexander of Santa Ynez and Del Mar, CA.