Gold Phoenix © Benoit Photo
GOLD PHOENIX SEEKS FIFTH G2 DEL MAR HANDICAP SATURDAY
The Del Mar Handicap has been around for 86 years. It has been won by some of the greats of the game: Ligaroti, Native Diver, Precisionist, Wickerr, Ancient Title and Navarone. But Saturday we could see something that has never been done before, in the race itself or at Del Mar as a whole. Saturday an Irish-bred chestnut gelding will try to win the race for the fifth consecutive year.
When Gold Phoenix won the Del Mar ‘Cap for an unprecedented fourth year in a row last year it was considered a testament to the endurance and longevity of a great horse, the result of hard work by his trainer and staff and the patience of his ownership group. The 8-year-old comes into this year’s race off a win in the G2 Eddie Read.
“We thought we’d come running late and pick up a piece,” trainer Philip D’Amato recalls in regards to the Read. “It was one of those races that unfolded late and he was able to get the job done. I was kind of using that race as a prep for the Del Mar Handicap and it worked out very well.”
There are a host of others in the race who could spoil the party, the most likely of whom is Test Score, winner of the G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at the beginning of the year and runner-up to Deterministic in the G1 Manhattan at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes Day. The son of Lookin At Lucky ships in from Colonial Downs where he ran sixth in the G1 Arlington Million earlier this month.
“He seems good,” says Alice Clapham, assistant trainer for Graham Motion. “Everything has gone to plan. He’s just a very easy horse to deal with. He travels well. He’s just a trier, he’s all heart when he runs. We’re happy.”
Test Score has raced twice at Del Mar in the past finishing third in a three-horse blanket finish in the G1 Hollywood Derby last fall and second in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes on the Breeders’ Cup undercard in 2024.
“He’s pretty manageable,” Clapham notes. “J.J. (jockey Juan Hernandez) can do pretty much what he wants. He’s ridden him twice now so he knows him. We’ll just see how it all works out when the gate opens.”
Mondego was a well-beaten seventh in the G2 Eddie Read last month. That came following a breakout win in the G2 Charles Whittingham at Santa Anita in May.
“The Eddie Read was a nice comeback race for him,” trainer Michael McCarthy notes. “We always thought that it might be a little bit too short for him. I thought he ran well that day. He’s run well down here at Del Mar before. He likes the distance. Obviously we have Gold Phoenix to beat.”
Atitlan may be rounding into form. After an 11-month layoff that coincided with the death of his trainer John Shirreffs and the subsequent change of barns, he returned last month and finished a hard-closing fourth in the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes. The winner, King of Gosford, came back last week and won the G2 Del Mar Mile.
“Mostly it was just us wanting to get a nice race into him to prepare for the Handicap,” trainer Richard Mandella explains. “He wants the long distance. Saying that, I don’t think he ran bad.”
The son of The Factor was in the middle of a four-horse blanket finish in last year’s Del Mar Handicap.
“He had some minor problems and was turned out at the farm,” Mandella says of the long layoff that preceded Atitlan’s last race. “He was galloping and jogging at WinStar when John passed away and the owner asked me if I’d take the horse.”
Nitti will be positioned between Test Score and Gold Phoenix when they pop the gate Saturday. He’s coming off of a 14-month layoff that followed his win in the 2025 G3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita.
“He had a little issue that we had to give him time for,” trainer Antonio Garcia says. “This wasn’t the original plan. We were trying to get a mile and three eighths allowance into him as a prep but that race never went. I hate to go in there like this but he’s got a lot of works into him and he’s a late closer so all he has to do is get a decent run. Fitness wise he’s at 90 percent.”
Flashiest comes into the race off a well-beaten fourth in the Belmont Gold Cup at Saratoga in June.
“He’s been a bad shipper in the past,” trainer Leonard Powell claims, “but he shipped pretty well that time. The jockey (Irad Ortiz, Jr.) made a bit of an early move with him and cost us second or third but he ran his race. We gave him a little bit of a break afterwards because we knew we were going to run toward the end of Del Mar.”
Prior to traveling to Saratoga, Flashiest had been second in three consecutive graded stakes races: the G3 San Marcos, the G3 San Luis Rey and the G2 Charles Whittingham.
“We would have wanted to win at least one of the races,” Powell says. “He hasn’t won a race in a couple of years. He’s faced some tough competition and Gold Phoenix is no stranger. I’d be very happy to be second again on Saturday. It’s a $300,000 race but getting our nose in front at the wire would be extra special.”
The 87th running of the G2 Del Mar Handicap is the nightcap on Saturday’s 10 race card. It’s a “Win and You’re In” for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Turf. Probable post time is approximately 6:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Santa Barbarian (Tiago Pereira, 30-1); Test Score (Juan Hernandez, 3-1); Nitti (Victor Espinoza, 12-1); Gold Phoenix, (Hector I. Berrios, 5/2); Atomic Age (Kazushi Kimura, 20-1); Maaz (Ricky Gonzalez, 15-1); Atitlan (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1); Mondego (Antonio Fresu, 6-1); Old Pal (Joel Rosario, 12-1); Flashiest (Armando Ayuso, 12-1), and Packs a Wahlop (Emisael Jaramillo, 10-1).
BERRIOS LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY SATURDAY WITH GOLD PHOENIX
Certain horses need certain riders to get the best out of them. Change riders and you might get an entirely different horse. But then there are those horses that no matter what you put up in the saddle, they perform every time.
Gold Phoenix is one of those horses. He’s running for history again this weekend in the G2 Del Mar Handicap on Saturday. Not to take anything away from the riders who have succeeded on the 8-year-old gelding in the past, but in his 34-race career Gold Phoenix has carried five different jockeys and he’s won with every one of them. He’s won the Del Mar ‘Cap four times with three different riders. Flavien Prat twice, Juan Hernandez and Kyle Frey.
When he breaks from the gate Saturday he’ll have Hector I. Berrios in the irons. Berrios is no stranger to Gold Phoenix. He’s ridden the Irish-bred’s last four races and won three of them: The G3 San Luis Rey at Santa Anita in March, the G3 San Juan Capistrano in June and the G2 Eddie Read last out at Del Mar.
“This horse is very smart,” Berrios says. “He doesn’t pull strong in the race. Very professional.”
Despite the historical significance of Saturday’s race, Berrios feels no extra pressure.
“I try to stay relaxed,” Berrios explains. “I just try to make everything easy. I feel good for him because horses can sense when you’re uptight.”
When Gold Phoenix won the Eddie Read last month, the two rallied up the rail and snatched the victory at the wire. Berrios says they’ll use the same tactic if the opportunity presents itself.
“Wherever he (Gold Phoenix) feels comfortable,” Berrios states. “I’ll try the inside at first, then I’ll either stay there or move to the outside because I need to see how the race unfolds. That allows me to make my decisions and where I can find room to send him.”
Last year’s Del Mar Handicap victory for Gold Phoenix came in a four-horse blanket finish. Berrios had a perfect view riding the third-place finisher Atitlan, who was a head behind Stay Hot who was a neck behind Gold Phoenix. This year, Berrios is hoping he’ll be the one first on the wire.
“Each race is special,” Berrios notes, “but winning this race with Gold Phoenix on Saturday would make the history books.”
BREEDERS’ CUP HOPEFULS CLASH IN G2 PAT O’BRIEN SATURDAY
Del Mar is serving up a graded stakes doubleheader that could have Breeders’ Cup implications later this year at Keeneland. First up is the G2 Pat O’Brien, seven furlongs on the main track with an all expenses paid ticket to this year’s $1-million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on the line. Win and you’re in.
Ten horses have signed up for the test, one of which won the race last year, another ran in the Kentucky Derby two year’s ago, another was a runner-up in a Breeders’ Cup race and there’s an entry who was recently claimed for $100,000.
The returning champion is Dr. Venkman, a 6-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper. He won the race last summer and went on to finish third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Dr. Venkman outlasted Stronghold in last year’s edition of the Pat O’Brien and the two will meet again Saturday. Stronghold, the 2024 Santa Anita Derby winner who went on to run seventh in the Kentucky Derby, missed by just half a length in last year’s Pat O’Brien. He also ran in the Bing Crosby, finishing sixth.
“Six furlongs is probably a little too short for him,” trainer Phil D’Amato says of the Bing Crosby. “He just got too far out of touch and he’s not that kind of horse. He has to be involved. Seven eights is a better distance for him. He’s won at it and he’s run well in the Pat O’Brien in the past.”
D’Amato also has Iron Man Cal in the O'Brien. The son of Collected nearly won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in 2024, missing by a neck to Henri Matisse. He ran his first race on the dirt last time out and finished a respectable third to Journalism in the G2 San Diego on opening weekend.
“I thought it was a decent effort,” D’Amato says. “He got caught up in the middle of a three-horse speed duel. He’s a bigger, stronger horse. He’s trained so well on the dirt that we had to give him a try in the San Diego. I think a cutback to seven eighths should be right up his alley.”
Big City Lights is two-for-two in 2026, winning the $100,000 Thor’s Echo last out at Santa Anita in May.
“He’s always tough,” trainer Richard Mandella notes. “He’s just a class horse.”
March of Time is a lightly raced 5-year-old by Justify who comes into the race off a runner-up finish in an allowance race at Del Mar last month.
“He ran well, just came up short,” trainer Bob Baffert notes. “He was just getting going. It’s a tough race but he drew well. Doesn’t matter who they’re by if they’re nice horses.”
Vodka Vodka is back from a short layoff, triggered by a mishap in his last race, the $250,000 Sunland Park Handicap. It was a nice win made even more impressive by the circumstances that developed during the race.
“When he came out of the gate at Sunland he stumbled and he pulled off his left front shoe,” trainer Aggie Ordonez states. “He ran the whole race barefoot on the left front. It was incredible that he was able to win but wound up paying the price. For the next six weeks he blew-out one abscess after another. It was nasty. We’ve gone through four different stages of shoeing to support the foot but now we’re able to shoe him full with no repercussions.”
The Cal-bred son of Stay Thirsty ran second to British Isles in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap in March.
Another horse to watch is Moonlight, who was a strong finishing third in the Bing Crosby.
“It’s a tough race but on his best day I think he can win,” trainer Peter Miller says. “There’s probably less pace than in the Bing Crosby so he’ll probably be a little closer. He’s a smart, old horse who knows where to put himself. Victor (Espinoza) is a smart old rider and he knows where to put himself so between the two of them they’ll figure it out.”
Bartholdy will race for the first time for trainer Jose D’Angelo and owners David Bernsen and TCC Stables. He was claimed out of his last race for $100,000, the second highest claim in Del Mar history.
The 41st running of the G2 Pat O’Brien is Race 9 on the 10 race Saturday card. It’s named after Bing Crosby’s lifelong friend and co-founder of Del Mar. Probable post time is 6 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Stronghold (Antonio Fresu, 6-1); Dr. Venkman (Umberto Rispoli, 6-1); Vodka Vodka (Kent Desormeaux, 6-1); Gold Sweep (Ricky Gonzalez, 20-1); Bartholdy (Tyler Baze, 6-1); Iron Man Cal (Joel Rosario, 8-1); Moonlight (Victor Espinoza, 10-1); Big City Lights (Kazushi Kimura, 7/2); March of Time (Juan Hernandez, 5-1) and Jimmy’s Dailys (Emisael Jaramillo, 20-1).
WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS BACK AT DEL MAR
Racing fans can once again take part in Del Mar’s Free Weekend Handicapping Seminars, held each Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. on the Kona Stage in the Plaza de Mexico.
The seminars, which run for approximately a half hour prior to the first race post at 2 p.m., offer insights on the day’s racing card from expert handicappers.
Del Mar veteran Dan Smith is the host for the Saturday cards and his guest this week is a jockey agent who has handled many of the superior riders from the west over the years: his guest is Tom Knust.
Sunday programs will be overseen by handicapping ace Frank Scatoni and he’ll have as his guest this week Ciaran Thornton, a horse owner and the co-host of “Double Trouble Live.”
COOLING OUT: The number of horses passing through the claim box at Del Mar this summer is slightly higher than last year. 116 claims have been completed for $2,643,000. Last year at this time there had been 110 claims for $2,611,000…Monday Little Red Feather Racing held its second annual Pacific Classic Challenge Golf Tournament at the Loma Santa Fe Country Club. The day on the links netted over $40,000 for LRF Cares, the partnership’s charity group for Thoroughbred aftercare. Over 100 golfers participated in the event…Notable works on Friday: Dirt – Dinkum (4f, :46.80); Jimmy’s Winchester (4f, :46.80); Simply Joking (5f, :59.40), and Zadra (5f, :59.00).