Roadster © Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

DAY 33

SEVEN TO ROLL, BUT NO INSTAGRAND, IN THE FUTURITY

A field of seven was entered Friday for the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Futurity, the traditional closing-day feature as Del Mar’s 79^th Summer Season wraps up on Labor Day Monday, September 3.

Highly-regarded Roadster from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was among the seven for the event that determines the 2-year-old champion of the meeting and stirs visions for the winner of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby contention in the months ahead.

Equally highly-regarded Instagrand, trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer was not among the entrants. Hollendorfer indicated, via text, that there was nothing wrong with the $1.2 million purchase at a March sale --- who has two career wins by a combined total of 20 ¼-lengths – and the colt will continue to train for a to-be-determined later stakes assignment.

Hollendorfer did enter Rowayton, like Instagrand owned by O X O Equine LLC, a debut race winner here on July 21.

Post positions were to be drawn later Friday. The entrants in alphabetical order are: Game Winner (No rider), Roadster (Mike Smith), Rowayton (Drayden Van Dyke), Savagery (Joe Talamo), Sigalert (Tyler Baze), Sparky Ville (Gary Stevens), Spin Lightning (Flavien Prat).

The most unexpected of the entrants was Savagery, a Kentucky-bred son of Bellamy Road trained by Peter Miller. Owned by Rockingham Ranch, Savagery broke his maiden in his third career start on August 15 here. One race earlier, on July 29, he was among nine defeated by Roadster in that colt’s lone start.

“Obviously we’re taking a shot,” Miller said. “He’s only run three times and was beaten by Roadster. But he won nicely (by 11 lengths) last time out against high-priced maiden claimers.

“We’re just …let’s line ‘em up, let ‘em go and see where they finish.”

PRAT’S MISSION: MAKE SECOND CHOICES NO. 1 IN DEB & MABEE

Flavien Prat is booked to ride Bellafina (9-5) in the Grade I $300,000 Del Mar Debutante and Vasilika (7-2) in the Grade II $200,000 John C. Mabee on Saturday’s program.

Coincidentally, Prat’s mounts are both second choices on the morning line to horses that will be ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, who holds a two-win lead over defending champion Prat in the jockey standings.

Van Dyke has Brill (8-5) in the Debutante and Cambodia (5-2) in the Mabee.

It’s an across-the-board case of No. 2 having to try harder. Which is just fine with Prat’s agent, Derek Lawson. 

“Bellafina’s doing well,” Lawson said.  “We’ve ridden her twice and gotten a second and a win. The win in the Sorrento was especially good. She’s drawn really well on the outside and it’s a matter of who’s the better 2-year-old filly of the moment. But she’ll run well.”

Simon Callaghan, who trains Bellafina for owner Kaleem Shah, concurs.

“We’ve been really happy with the way she’s trained after the Sorrento, everything’s gone according to plan,” Callaghan said. “We’ve seen everything we wanted to see between that race and now.

“We like our post position (outside in a field of five) which gives us options. I think it’s going to be an exceptionally good race. And I think whoever wins is going to be the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Mother Mother) and (Brill) but we think we’ve got the right filly that could do it.”

The field from the rail: Boujie Girl (Geovanni Franco, 8-1), Brill (Drayden Van Dyke, 8-5), Watch Me Burn (Alonso Quinonez, 15-1), Mother Mother (Joe Talamo, 2-1) and Bellafina (Flavien Prat 9-5).

The Debutante will go as the fourth on an 11-race card that starts at 2 p.m.

In the Mabee, Prat will be seeking a sixth straight victory on Vasilika, whom Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has turned into a win machine since claiming the 4-year-old daughter of Skipshot for $40,000 at the end of last year.

“We know Cambodia is the filly to beat, but this is the next step up for Vasilika,” Lawson said. “She’s done everything she possibly could to get to the next level.”

The field in post position order: Meal Ticket (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Sophie P (Kent Desormeaux, 10-1), Midnight Crossing (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Storm the Hill (Rafael Bejarano, 15-1), Fahan Mura (Edwin Maldonado, 4-1), Cordiality (Tyler Baze, 12-1), Cambodia (Drayden Van Dyke, 5-2), Achira (Gary Stevens, 15-1), Vasilika (Flavien Prat, 7-2), The Tulip (Mario Gutierrez, 15-1), Madame Stripes (Geovanni Franco, 8-1) and Cheekaboo (Tyler Conner, 20-1). Also eligible: Vagabond Princess (Martin Garcia, 20-1).

The Mabee will be the 10^th on an 11-race program.

FAVORED RIVER BOYNE HAS PLENTY OF COMPETITION IN DERBY

River Boyne drew the No. 3 post position and was established as the 5-2 favorite in a field of 12 on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s morning line for Sunday’s Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby.

Trained by Jeff Mullins for Red Baron’s Barn or Rancho Temescal, River Boyne stepped into the La Jolla Handicap, the second in the three-stakes series for  3-year-olds on turf of the meeting, and won by 1 ¼ lengths as the 1-2 favorite in a field of six.

Eleven rivals entered the series-concluding 1 1/8-mile Derby, which is a sixteenth of a mile longer than the La Jolla, with a purse that is $100,000 larger and a notch better grading.

Trainer Simon Callaghan will saddle Kazan, an Irish-bred gelding who broke his maiden here on opening day, July 18, and followed it up with an allowance victory on August 12.

“He’s really progressed a lot over the last two months since we gelded him,” Callaghan said. “He needs to make another jump forward, obviously. He’s won a first condition allowance and now we’re going up against the best 3-year-old turf horses in California.

“But he’s training incredibly well and I still think the horse has some upside.”

The field from the rail: Epical (Tyler Baze, 20-1), Desert Stone (Tyler Gaffalione (6-1), River Boyne (Flavien Prat, 5-2), Restrainedvengence (Evin Roman, 20-1), Arawak (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Pubilius Syrus (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1), Andesh (Geovanni Franco, 8-1), Ride a Comet (Drayden Van Dyke, 7-2), Take the One O One (Joe Talamo, 8-1), Kazan (Martin Garcia, 12-1), Majestic Eagle (Gary Stevens, 15-1) and Animosity (Tyler Conner, 20-1).

SEASON’S FLEETINGS: JOCKEY RACE; MILLER’S RECORD QUEST

With only four days remaining in the summer season, a capsule look at the race for the jockey title and runaway training leader Peter Miller’s progress toward the most wins in a meet in 55 years (Farrell Jones, 35 in 1963) or maybe 65 years (R.H. “Red McDaniel, 36 in 1953):

With victories on Tiny Tina (3^rd race, $16.00) and Air Strike (4^th, $8.00) for trainer Phil D’Amato on Thursday, defending champion Flavien Prat moved to within two (34-32) of leader Drayden Van Dyke atop the jockey standings. Van Dyke was blanked on four mounts.

Prat has four scheduled mounts on the Friday program – Backstopper Kit (1^st, 8-5), Silken Prince (2^nd, 5-2), Perfect Dude (3^rd, 7-2) and Midnight Crossing (5^th, 6-1). Van Dyke is booked to ride two – Policy (2^nd, 3-1) and Oh Pretty Woman (5^th, 7-2).

Miller has 30 wins from 96 starters, 11 more than second-place Doug O’Neill. Miller has entries in three races Friday – Wild Wild Kingdom (1^st, 12-1), Perfect Dude (3^rd, 7-2), Tiny Tap (6^th, 8-1) and She’s a Spy (6^th, 7-2).

Miller has entries in the first nine races on an 11-race program for Saturday and four in  10 races on Sunday.

“I’m going to run as many as possible,” Miller said. “It’s enter up, run hard and rest after the meeting is over – for the horses and me. It’s been a dream meeting. A great crew, great teamwork, great owners and, of course, getting lucky sometimes.”   

CLOSERS – A reminder of “The Art of Old Friends” book signing on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. in the entranceway to the Turf Club/Clubhouse near the fountain. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the book will go to the Old Friends Farm for retired thoroughbreds in Kentucky. Present for the signing will be artist Dagmar Galleithner-Steiner and her husband Joe Steiner, writer Jay Hovdey and his wife Julie Krone and Bob and Jill Baffert. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was to be on hand, but has an out-of-town riding assignment … A field of 11 was drawn Friday for Monday’s $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf and eight for the $75,000-added C.E.R.F Stakes the same day.

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Thursday, August 30, 2018 Inclusive)

Trainer Standings

(Current Through Thursday, August 30, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Thursday, August 30, 2018 Inclusive)

Winning favorites -- 95 out of 279 -- 34.05%

Winning favorites on dirt -- 68 out of 173 -- 39.31%

Winning favorites on turf -- 27 out of 106 -- 25.47%

Winning odds-on favorites -- 26 out of 41 -- 63.41%

In-the-Money favorites -- 196 out of 279 -- 70.25%

In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 39 out of 41 -- 95.12%