Mr. A. P. © Benoit Photo
OCEANSIDE KICKS OFF DEL MAR’S STAKES ACTION FOR 2026
The Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside Handicap has been the traditional opening day feature for Del Mar’s summer meet for several decades now but this year it takes on some added significance. In the past Del Mar has offered two grass stakes races for 3-year-olds leading up to the G2 Del Mar Derby in August. But with the changing racing climate, trainers are less inclined to run their horses three times in eight weeks so the La Jolla Handicap, which landed between the Oceanside and the Derby, was becoming more difficult to fill.
This year the La Jolla has been eliminated from the stakes schedule leaving the Oceanside as the only local prep for the Derby, which will be run on August 23.
“We just felt it was a little bit of overkill,” says racing secretary David Jerkens. “We thought if we opened up the Oceanside, which is essentially the La Jolla now that there’s no conditions attached to it, we figured we would get a solid field for the Oceanside, which would act as a prep for the Derby. Two races in eight weeks makes more sense.”
12 horses have been entered in the 81st running of the Oceanside, with a $50,000 purse boost this year to $150,000. Five of the runners have won stakes races in their young careers but it’s the one that came close last fall that is garnering much of the attention.
Mr. A. P. missed winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by a length, falling short to eventual 2-year-old champion Ted Noffey. But the son of American Pharoah has not raced since and will be making his 2026 / 3-year-old debut in the Oceanside.
“He had a small chip in his knee,” trainer Vladimir Cerin explains. “They removed it and he’s come back as good as ever. I’ve drilled him enough times to make sure that he’s ready. He’s trained really well. He’s galloped out a mile a couple of times and he’s working three-quarters so I’m pretty sure he’s fit.”
There’s always a big difference between a horse at 2-years-old and a horse at 3 and Mr A. P. is no different.
“He’s a little bit bigger,” Cerin says. “At this point he seems a little more playful. Eager to strut his stuff. He’s going to be nervous on Friday. He always washes out going to the gate, but obviously it doesn’t affect his performance. It affects the trainer because if he’s nervous, I’m nervous. But it doesn’t affect him in the race.”
Cerin is trying Mr. A. P. on the grass for the first time but he’s not concerned.
“He’s a really good horse,” Cerin states. “He’s bred for the grass more so than the main track though I’ll take his main track performances. They were pretty good.”
He’ll certainly get tested in the Oceanside. Unrivaled Time captured the G3 Cecil B. DeMille on this same Jimmy Durante turf course last fall.
“He won his last race, (the $125,000 Snow Chief) against Cal-breds,” trainer Leonard Powell notes. “If I want to stay against straight 3-year-olds this is the next step for him, which hopefully will take us to the Del Mar Derby.”
The son of Not This Time won the mile and an eighth Snow Chief in May at Santa Anita following consecutive defeats early this year.
“He’s still a bit immature,” Powell adds, “but he’s got the talent that’s for sure. He’s shown it. He likes the Del Mar course so hopefully he does well on it again.”
Secured Freedom is coming into the Oceanside off a victory in the $100,000 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita last month. The son of Practical Joke was once a prospect on the Derby Trail, finishing fourth in the G2 San Felipe in March. He did make it to Churchill Downs on Derby Day, but ran in the G2 Pat Day Mile where he caught a couple of buzzsaws in Crude Velocity and Englishman. He returned home where trainer Tim Yakteen made an equipment change and Secured Freedom was soon back in the winner’s circle.
“We had taken the blinkers off of him and we got a pretty strong pace to run at,” Yakteen points out about the colt’s win in the Affirmed. “It set up well for him and it helped us because we wanted to see if we could get him to relax a bit. It worked out well for us.”
Like Mr. A. P., Secured Freedom will be trying the turf for the first time in his six-race career.
Bust Out won the $100,000 Cinema Stakes at Santa Anita in May. He returned in the $265,000 American Derby at Churchill Downs and finished fourth.
“I thought he ran okay,” trainer Michael McCarthy says. “He broke well then kind of found himself in a poor position. Flavien (Prat) had the opportunity to tuck in turning up the backside and he said the horse kind of lost a little bit of interest. He started working on him coming to the quarter pole and he picked it up again, ran out through the lane and galloped out well so I think we’ll go ahead and get ourselves forwardly placed here.”
Later Than Planned is a two-time stakes winner, grabbing the $100,000 Speakeasy at Santa Anita as a 2-year-old and then coming back this year and winning the $100,000 John Shear. He’s one of three entries in the race for trainer Phil D’Amato.
The Oceanside is Race 8 on the Friday Opening Day program. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the inside post with the jockeys and morning line odds: Iriseach (Umberto Rispoli, 8-1); Secured Freedom (Ramon Vasquez, 12-1); Unrivaled Time (Armando Ayuso, 12-1); Proletariat (Kyle Frey, 8-1); Bust Out (Emisael Jaramillo, 4-1); Mr. A. P. (Joel Rosario, 5-1); Tiz All That (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1); Charlie’s Curlin (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Mo Koko (Ricky Gonzalez, 30-1); One More Freud (Mike Smith, 15-1); Jordi Bear (Antonio Fresu, 12-1) and Later Than Planned (Hector I. Berrios, 6-1).
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: A LOOK AT LAST YEAR’S DEL MAR CHAMPIONS
Another new season of racing is approaching. New faces, new winners and eight weeks of the kind of excitement only horse racing can provide. There’s also the chance of seeing past champions performing this year at the seaside oval. Here’s a look back at last summer’s top horses and what they’ve been up to since we last saw them in the Del Mar winner’s circle.
Fierceness - Horse of the Meet & Top Older Horse – After we saw the son of City of Light ship into Del Mar and dominate the G1 Pacific Classic he went on to run one more time, a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in the fall. He was retired after the race and now stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
Formidable Man – Top Grass Horse – The definition of ‘Horse for the Course.’ Another son of City of Light was undefeated after six races on Del Mar’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course, including victories in the G2 Eddie Read and G2 Del Mar Mile. That streak was broken when he ran a good second to Notable Speech in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. He’s run once in 2026, winning the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita and is expected to run at Del Mar this summer.
Seismic Beauty – Top Older Filly or Mare – After she wired the field in the G1 Clement L. Hirsch in August, trainer Bob Baffert and the ownership group took a patient approach with the daughter of Uncle Mo. She didn’t run again until the Breeders’ Cup where she ran 11th in the Distaff. She’s run once in 2026, finishing third in a four-horse field in the G2 Santa Margarita at Santa Anita.
Lovesick Blues – Top Sprinter – While the winner of the G1 Bing Crosby would not run again until the Breeders’ Cup, where he finished sixth in the Sprint, he was quite busy over the winter. Globetrotting overseas he first visited Saudi Arabia where he ran fifth in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard in February. Then he flew to the United Emirates in March where he ran eighth in the Dubai Golden Shaheen on the Dubai World Cup undercard. The gelded son of Grazen is back in the states but has not raced since returning from the Middle East.
The Padre – Top 3-year-old – After clinching the G2 Del Mar Derby in August, trainer Philip D’Amato gave the Irish-bred the rest of the year off, bringing him back in a salty allowance race at Santa Anita in April where he finished second. He then ran third in the G2 Charles Whittingham on Derby Day at SA.
Velocity – Top 3-year-old Filly – Her stunning 35-1 upset win in the G1 Del Mar Oaks would be the last we’d see the daughter of Nyquist race. She suffered an ankle injury preparing for her next start and was retired. She sold for $1.2 million to Pin Oak Stud at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale at Keeneland.
Brant – Top 2-year-old – High hopes followed the G1 Del Mar Futurity winner into the fall but the undefeated colt came up short in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile finishing third. The $3-million purchase was placed on the Derby Trail but he finished a disappointing fifth in the G2 San Felipe at Santa Anita in March and didn’t run again until June when he came in fourth in the G3 Maxfield at Churchill Downs.
Bottle of Rouge – Top 2-year-old Filly – The G1 Del Mar Debutante winner ran sixth in her next start, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to close out her 2025 campaign. The daughter of Vino Rosso has come back as a 3-year-old and won the $250,000 Sunland Oaks at Sunland Park in New Mexico in February and then the $250,000 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs in March.
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 opening week guest is Jon Lindo, a longtime handicapper, horse owner and racing radio host.
Sunday programs will be overseen by handicapping ace Frank Scatoni and he’ll have owner and horse player Jerry Weseloh as his initial guest.
COOLING OUT: Friday’s third race will be the first of the Auction Races for 2-year-olds being offered for the first time at Del Mar this year. The races are restricted to horses that were sold at auction or failed to reach their reserve at a certain price. In the case of Friday’s race, they are horses that sold or were offered for $150,000. Auction Races are meant to give those with a less expensive price tag the chance to compete with equal-valued horses and avoid the risk of losing their horse to a claim. In the past, the only way to avoid facing high-priced 2-year-old prospects was to enter in a claiming race…Horses worked on the turf course for the first time Thursday morning. Turf works will be conducted on Thursdays and Sundays throughout the meet.