By Hank Wesch

BEST PAL TOP THREE ARE TARGETED FOR FUTURITY

Skyway, who gave trainer Mark Casse his first Del Mar stakes victory – and first win of any kind at the track – in Sunday’s $200,000 Grade II Best Pal Stakes, returned from the effort in good shape.

The 2-year-old New York-bred son of Sky Mesa, owned by John C. Oxley, was a 1 ¼-length winner,  covering the 6 ½ furlongs on Polytrack in 1:16.67.  Doug O’Neill-trained Henry’s Holiday and Bad Read Sanchez finished second and third.

"He came out of it just great,” Casse said Wednesday morning. Then the six-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s top trainer reached into his pocket for the wooden clip he carries with him to touch for luck. “If all goes well, he’ll go next in the Futurity.” The 7-furlong, $300,000 Grade I Del Mar Futurity, the race that determines the meet’s juvenile champion,will be run on closing day, Wednesday, September 3.

Casse scratched his other Best Pal entrant, Conquest Bigluck E, when the colt showed signs of illness. But Casse reported Wednesday that the son of Lookin At Lucky was well on the mend. 

“He’s happy this morning. I’ll aim him for the Futurity,” Casse said. “It’s unfortunate (missing the Best Pal), but it could be a lot worse. He’s better and his blood count never got too bad “

O’Neill said that both Henry’s Holiday and Bad Read Sanchez “look fantastic,” and will be aimed for the Futurity as well.

TWO SCRATCHES REDUCE SORRENTO FIELD TO FIVE

Mark Casse’s chance to win a second straight stakes here ended with his withdrawal of Conquest Eclipse from Wednesday’s $200,000 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The daughter of Malibu Moon was 5-1 on oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s opening line and was to have been ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

Conquest Eclipse, owned by Conquest Stables LLC, was a 1 ½-length winner in her debut race on June 29 at Churchill Downs. The scratch was due to what appears to be a minor illness. 

“She coughed a little bit two days ago. We did blood work on her and the white count was up a little bit,” Casse said. “We took it again yesterday and it was up a little bit more, so we’ve started treatment. Hopefully we’ll have her ready for the Debutante ($300,000, Grade I Del Mar Debutante on Saturday, August 30).

“Monday she galloped great and I was so happy. I got on my radio to the exercise rider and I could hear her (labored breathing).”

Also scratched from the Sorrento was Windy Forecast, a daughter of Stormy Atlantic. Trainer Simon Callaghan said that he’ll look for a maiden race this weekend.

With the scratches, the field from the rail out is: Sharla Rae (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), Sunset Glow (Victor Espinoza, 2-1), Heart of Paradise (Joe Talamo, 6-1), La Grange (Kent Desormeaux, 4-1) and Caval (Elvis Trujillo, 5-2).  There will be no show wagering on the race.

GAME ON DUDE, FRAC DADDY WORK FOR TVG PACIFIC CLASSIC

Defending TVG Pacific Classic champion Game On Dude worked 7 furlongs in 1:24.60 seconds Wednesday morning with Mike Smith up.

Track clockers caught the 7-year-old son of Awesome Again in :59.40 for five furlongs and 1:11.60 for three-quarters. “He ran away from stablemate Drill and went through some very serious splits,” said clocker Toby Turrell.

Frac Daddy went  four furlongs in :49.20 under an exercise rider.

“Just an easy half-mile to see how he is,” said Blake Heap, who is handling Frac Daddy for Kentucky-based trainer Kenny McPeek. It was the first work for Frac Daddy since a fourth-place finish as the 2-1 favorite in the Grade II $200,000 1 1/16-mile San Diego Handicap on July 26.

“Probably the next two will be more serious works and they’ll be very important.”

BAZE WATCH: SIX SHOTS AT NO. 2000

Jockey Tyler Baze, with 1,999 career wins, has six scheduled mounts on Wednesday’s card. They are: Small Moves (1^st, 5-2), Peppy Bolly (2^nd, 12-1), Oh Deann (3^rd, 5-2), Acute (4^th, 5-1), Golden Guy (5^th, 9-2), Moving Desert (6^th, 7-2),

OCEANSIDE 1-2 RETURN FOR LA JOLLA

Enterprising and Argyle Cut, the 1-2 finishers in the opening day Oceanside Stakes, top a field of six for Saturday’s 74^th running of the La Jolla Stakes, second in the series of events for 3-year-olds on turf in the meeting.

Enterprising, ridden by Mike Smith, closed from eighth at the top of the stretch and prevailed by a neck in the one-mile Oceanside. The La Jolla, a Grade II $150,000 test, is at 1 1/16 miles.

The La Jolla field, from the rail out, is: Argyle Cut (Corey Nakatani), Schoolofhardrocks (Martin Garcia), I’ll Wrap It Up (Elvis Trujillo), Sammy Mandeville (Rafael Bejarano), Tonito M (Victor Espinoza) and Enterprising (Mike Smith).

TRAKUS FACTS FROM SUNDAY

Sunday’s ninth race could easily have confused the eyes without consulting the Trakus data. #1 Wrightwood just got up in time to defeat #5 Noble Bird. Wrightwood was widest on the track at the finish, with Noble Bird to his inside, and #8 Alamo on the rail in third. However, Wrightwood saved ground for the majority of the race, tipping out past the midpoint of the far turn and rallying. Noble Bird and Alamo were wide throughout. At the finish, Noble Bird covered 52 feet more than Wrightwood, while Alamo covered 55 feet more.

CLOSERS – University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, who owns horses trained by Doug O’Neill, is scheduled to make his annual pilgrimage to Del Mar with a possible arrival in time for the races on Sunday … Ship And Win eligible horses on Wednesday’s card are: Popalicious (2^nd, Steve Miyadi, trainer), My BFF (4^th, Jeff Metz), Sunset Glow (7^th, Wesley Ward, no bonus, stakes), La Grange (7^th, J. Keith Desormeaux, no bonus, stakes)… Selected workouts since Sunday: Monday – Irish Surf (4f, :50.80) You Know I Know (4f, :49.40); Tuesday – Pontchatrain (3f, :38.00); Wednesday – Beholder (4f, :48.60), Frac Daddy (4f, :49.20), Drill (5f, 1:00.60), Fed Biz (5f, 1:00.40), Sky Kingdom (5f, 1:01.00), Tom’s Tribute (5f, 1:02.00), Game On Dude (7f, 1:24.60).    

DEL MAR STATISTICS

Jockey Standings

(Current Through Sunday, August 3, 2014 Inclusive)

 Trainer Standings

(Current Through Sunday, August 3, 2014 Inclusive)

 Winning Favorites Report

(Current Through Sunday, August 3, 2014 Inclusive)

 Winning favorites -- 35 out of 129 -- 27.13%

 Winning favorites on Polytrack -- 29 out of 99 -- 29.29%

 Winning favorites on turf -- 6 out of 30 -- 20.00%

 Winning odds-on favorites -- 5 out of 10 -- 50.00%

 In-the-Money favorites -- 78 out of 129 -- 60.47%

 In-the-Money odds-on favorites -- 8 out of 10 -- 80.00%

 Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793