2018 Del Mar Handicap
DAY 4
ITSINTHEPOST, HUNT RENEW RIVALRY IN SUNDAY’S EDDIE READ
There was a three-race series, from late summer into the fall of last year, in which Itsinthepost and Hunt battled to what, in boxing terms, would be called a draw.
It started in the Del Mar Handicap here on August 19, where Phil D’Amato-trained Hunt, who had earlier won the Eddie Read, prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Jeff Mullins-trained Itsinthepost. D’Amato won the Del Mar training title and Hunt was named the top grass horse.
Six weeks later the rivalry was renewed in the John Henry Turf Cup at Santa Anita with Itsinthepost turning the tables on Hunt by a head in another 1-2 finish.
Then came the $4 million Breeders Cup Turf here on November 4, in which Talismanic upheld a tradition of European import victories while Itsinthepost finished seventh and Hunt 13th.
Apart for the last eight months, they’ll be together again for Sunday’s Grade II $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes, the first open grass event of the summer season and often a determiner of the meeting’s turf champion. Hunt’s only 2018 start produced a hard-earned neck victory in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May. Itsinthepost started his 2018 campaign in January and has four wins, all in Grade II stakes, in five starts. The 6-year-old, French-bred gelding’s only loss was a third place result when shipped to Keeneland for the Elkhorn Stakes in April.
Itsinthepost shortens to the Read’s 1 1/8-mile distance from four straight assignments at 1 ½ or 1 ¼ miles while Hunt, the defending Read champion, stretches out from a mile. The morning line of oddsmaker Russ Hudak has Itsinthepost a narrow 5-2 favorite over 3-1 Hunt. But Mullins cites a key obstacle for his horse to overcome.
“The distance is not perfect for him, it’s way shorter than he wants to run,” Mullins said. “It’s basically a stepping stone to the next race ($250,000 1 3/8 mile Del Mar Handicap on August 18). But it’s hard to keep him in the barn, so we’re going to run him and get ready for the next one.
A son of American Post, Itsinthepost has career earnings of more than $1.2 million, breaking the seven-figure mark with $505,000 in earnings this year. He has won four of six races at the Read distance in his career.
“It’s hard not to say good things about him,” Mullins said. “His record speaks for itself. Any time a horse can stay in good form that long is pretty impressive. I’ve trained some very nice horses and he’s right up there with any of them. It’s all about now, right? And he’s the ‘now’ horse.”
The field from the rail: True Valour (Jamie Spencer, 15-1), Next Shares (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Flamboyant (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Bowies Hero (Corey Nakatani, 8-1), Sharp Samurai (Gary Stevens, 7-2), Catapult (Drayden Van Dyke, 15-1), Hunt (Flavien Prat, 3-1), Multiplier (Victor Espinoza, 20-1), Itsinthepost (Tyler Baze, 5-2), Prime Attraction (Kent Desormeaux, 20-1) and Fashion Business (Joe Talamo, 15-1).
STARS SECURE WITH ASMUSSEN, RUIS FOCUSES ON BABIES HERE
A relieved and upbeat Mick Ruis and his wife Wendy were back at Del Mar for the first time since last fall’s Breeders’ Cup, attending the races on Friday and their charges at Barn LL in the stable area on Saturday morning.
On Thursday, Mick announced that Ruis Racing’s winners of the top events for 2-year-olds at Del Mar the last two years – Union Strike in the 2016 Debutante and Bolt d’Oro in the 2017 Futurity – had been turned over to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen for upcoming East Coast campaigning.
Both horses are at Asmussen’s stable at Saratoga. Union Strike is being targeted for the Ballerina Stakes there in a few weeks. The racing return for Bolt d’Oro, on hiatus since disappointing finishes of 12th in the Kentucky Derby and last against tough older horses in the $1.2 million Met Mile on Belmont Stakes day in June, has yet to be determined.
Ruis expressed contentment with the decision and the person who’ll now be in charge of the horses that boosted the stable to prominence. While other trainers, among them Bob Baffert, were considered, Asmussen’s East/Midwest base and his enthusiasm for Bolt d’Oro proved deciding factors.
“Right after the Met Mile, I started thinking about it,” Ruis said. “I’d spent the last six months of my life with Bolt, but I have 1,200 employees in three companies also to think about. I didn’t want to cheat Bolt d’Oro and I didn’t want to spread myself too thin.
“It was a tough decision, those are my babies, but I know Steve Asmussen has passion for the business. He’s trained three Horses of the Year and he’s excited about training Bolt. He (Asmussen) made three or four trips to (Ruis’ recently-purchased Chestnut Farm in Versailles, Kentucky) to see him.
“Bolt looks great, Steve’s excited to have him.”
Ruis, an accomplished high school wrestler, compared the experience to his as a parent of sons who were wrestling standouts as well.
“I taught my boys how to wrestle and coached them when they were real young. Then when they got to high school I turned them over to Wayne Branstetter and, after that I got to sit back and watch them grow and become champions,” Ruis said. “It’s going to be a nice break for Wendy and me. We’ll be able to fly in, sit in the stands and have the fun without the stress.”
Ruis Racing has 17 stalls at Del Mar and 11 more runners at San Luis Rey Downs that could ship in when ready. Besides those close to or race ready, Ruis Racing has 23 recent foals from their stallions War Envoy, the only California-based son of War Front, and Saburu, the only California-based son of Medaglia d’Oro.
“We’ll be concentrating on developing the babies,” said Ruis, whose daughter Shelbe, who saddled Union Strike to win the Debutante, will be in charge of the stable when he’s occupied with other businesses.
Five Ruis 2-year-olds were nominated for the September 3 Del Mar Futurity. Ruis said the most advanced of the quintet is named Kneedeepinsnow. A $130,000 purchase at the Keeneland September sale last year, Kneedeepinsnow, a son of Flat Out, has a series of six workouts prepping for his racing debut, the most recent a four-furlong go in :49.40 on Friday.
BOMBARD IN WICKERR COULD BRIGHTEN MANDELLA’S WEEKEND
“The experiment didn’t work,” Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said Saturday morning of Paradise Woods’ sixth-place finish in Friday’s $75,000 Osunitas Stakes.
The two-time Grade I winner and earner of more than $700,000 for owners Marty and Pam Wygod, frequently battling standouts like Unique Bella and Vale Dori, failed to show the needed response in the stretch in her grass racing debut as Fahan Mura pulled off a $15.40 upset under Edwin Maldonado for trainer Vladimir Cerin.
Mandella said “We’ll take some time,” before deciding what’s next for Paradise Woods.
Up next, stakes-wise, for Mandella is Bombard (6-1) in Sunday’s $75,000 Wickerr Stakes. Unlike Paradise Woods, Bombard is a turf specialist. The 5-year-old gelded son of War Front, owned by Claiborne Farm and partners, has made all nine career starts on grass, winning four, and comes into the Wickerr on a two-race winning streak.
The field from the rail: Gold Rush Dancer (Evin Roman, 30-1), Forever Juanito (Agapito Delgadillo, 20-1), Cistron (Tyler Baze, 12-1), Giant Payday (Kent Desormeaux, 20-1), Editore (Brice Blanc, 6-1), Isotherm (Geovanni Franco, 20-1), Tule Fog (Santiago Gonzalez, 20-1), Liam the Charmer (Tyler Conner, 20-1), Big Score (Rafael Bejarano, 9-2), Colonist (Drayden Van Dyke, 5-1), Conquest Tsunami (Victor Espinoza, 7-2), Perfectly Majestic (Corey Nakatani, 8-1), Double Touch (Gary Stevens, 20-1) and Bombard (Flavien Prat, 6-1).
CLAIMING PRICE HERE HITS ALL-TIME HIGH IN THE FIFTH RACE
Got a spare $150,000? If so, take a look at the nine horses in today’s fifth race.
Only one has raced before – Luis Mendez-trained No Treble was a distant second in a June 29 debut at Los Alamitos – but they’re all available for the highest “real” claiming tag in Del Mar history.
The record price for a claim is $125,000 for Smoocher on July 22, 2005.
The 4-year-old colt was claimed by trainer Dan Hendricks for clients A & J Ernst from trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and owners Rancho San Miguel and partners.
Not for the record was a $300,000 claiming tag on Chester’s Choice and Woke Up Dreamin in the “Battle of the Sexes” match race with jockeys Julie Krone and Patrick Valenzuela in 2003.
The racing office didn’t want to write it as an allowance because the winning horse would lose a condition, so they wrote it under claiming conditions at a price designed to scare off any would-be claimants.
SADLER SCRATCHES REDUCE SAN DIEGO FIELD TO SIX
John Sadler-trained Curlin Rules and Accelerate were late scratches from Saturday’s $200,000 San Diego Handicap, reducing the field to six.
The revised field and morning line from the rail: Catalina Cruiser (Drayden Van Dyke, 4-1), Dr. Dorr (Joe Talamo, 2-1), Two Thirty Five (Franklin Ceballos, 5-2), , El Huerfano (Tyler Conner, 15-1), Dabster (Flavien Prat, 8-1) and Harlan Punch (Martin Pedroza, 8-1).
CLOSERS – Notice has been received of the passing of longtime horse owner and Del Mar season box holder Richard (Dick) Laird on May 26. Along with his wife Linda, who passed away in 2012, Dick Laird owned horses for more than 45 years, starting in 1966 when they lived in the Bay Area. Trainers they employed ranged from former jockey Jim Wise, who had ridden with Red Pollard of Seabiscuit fame, to Bob Baffert and Eoin Harty. One of the best runners for the Lairds, who were longtime Solana Beach residents, was Shamoan, who won the Iowa Derby and was second in the Lone Star Derby and fourth in the West Virginia Derby … Selected works from 186 officially timed Saturday morning: Ashleyluvssugar (5f, 1:00.80), Core Beliefs (5f, 1:00.60), Dalmore (5f, 1:00.20), Edwards Going Left (5f, 1:00.80), Thirteen Squared (5f, :58.60), Just a Smidge and Roman Rosso (6f, 1:12.80 …