Journalism © Benoit Photo
JOURNALISM BACK ON THE WEST COAST AT DEL MAR
With his latest venture to the East Coast a winning one, Journalism is back home, arriving at trainer Michael McCarthy’s barn at Del Mar Tuesday evening. Now it’s a waiting game as the colt recuperates from his latest trip and the racing world awaits a decision on where he will run next.
He took a spin around the main track Thursday morning, stretching his legs a bit.
“Look’s like he’s doing very well,” McCarthy reports. “No plans yet. Just keeping everything on the table.”
Meanwhile, it’s business…almost as usual for his conditioner.
The first half of 2025 has been anything but normal for McCarthy. It began with the lowest of lows when he and his family were displaced by the Eaton wildfire in Altadena (about 15 miles outside of downtown Los Angeles) in January. The fire got to within 600 feet of his home, which sustained significant smoke damage. Many of his neighbors were not so lucky.
Things improved dramatically over the next few months for the 54-year-old trainer when his 3-year-old colt by Nyquist took him down the Derby Trail and provided him with a return trip to the Kentucky Derby.
Journalism would finish second that day. But while the winner, Sovereignty, was bypassing the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, McCarthy took his charge to Pimlico and he did not disappoint. Though it wasn’t the easiest of trips, Journalism muscled out of trouble and won the race, setting up another showdown with Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes.
The result in New York was the same as the Derby, but Journalism still put-in a commendable effort and McCarthy returns to Del Mar this summer with a nice bit of momentum. Journalism’s impressive tally in the $1-million Haskell Stakes last Saturday on the Jersey Shore surely was a big part of that.
“I don’t know if it’s changed me a whole lot,” McCarthy says of his recent success, “or changed the way we do things. But it has brought a little more light to what we’re doing and it certainly opens avenues for new business.”
“It’s a little bit different because it’s more on the national level with him,” McCarthy continues. “It’s the Triple Crown and people are dialed in. So, it’s brought a little more attention. You keep at it every day, you do the same things every day. We’re fortunate enough to have a wonderful horse like him behind one of our webbings.”
McCarthy was well prepared for the spotlight, having spent over a decade as an assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher.
“Everything we do here is basically what I was exposed to during my time working for Todd,” McCarthy confides. “Going through Triple Crowns, going through Breeders’ Cups, the prep races and all these types of things. So it was nothing new for us. There were no first-time jitters or ‘I wonder how this is going to be’ because you’ve been exposed to it multiple times. I’ve been in the paddock with 20 runners, been all over the country for multiple prep races.
“We’re fortunate enough to be in California and stay at one place for the winter,” McCarthy adds. “It worked out wonderfully for Journalism. The only thing that was different about being at Churchill Downs was inclement weather for 48-hours leading up to the Derby, which we don’t get to partake in here. When it rains here we’re not allowed to train and the track is sealed.”
So now, the $1-million question. The $1-million dollar Pacific Classic question. Will he run Journalism in Del Mar’s marquee race at the end of next month? McCarthy says all of the options are open.
“At some stage you’re going to have to run against older (horses),” McCarthy concedes. “But there’s a lot of lucrative purses throughout the country for straight 3-year-olds. The one drawback is having to put a horse like him on a plane.”
McCarthy got back to the West Coast and Del Mar ahead of Journalism. In time for the races Sunday hours after winning the G1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
“Scheduling-wise we thought the Haskell just made a lot of sense,” McCarthy notes. “It’s an easy ship. Fly into Newark and go straight to Monmouth Park. With the lack of a real equine freight service, it’s difficult to get horses to certain locales. Saratoga is one of them. Fed Ex only goes so far.”
Hmmm. Sort of sounds like a reason to stay home and prep for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar.
FRESU GETS EARLY JUMP IN JOCKEY STANDINGS AT DEL MAR
The first week of the Del Mar summer meet is in the books and what a week it was, filled with big fields, plenty of longshot winners, and thrilling finishes. Once the dust settled Sunday evening, we had a clear leader in the jockey standings and a logjam atop the trainers race.
Antonio Fresu won seven races to take the early lead in the rider’s race. Last year’s runner-up in the jockey standings scored one win on opening day and then three victories on Saturday, including the $100,000 Wicker with Almendares. He added another three wins on Sunday, capturing the late daily double.
Nipping at his heels is Hector I. Berrios who won five races, two of them stakes. He won the traditional Opening Day feature, the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, then came back on Saturday and won the G2 San Clemente.
Defending champion Juan Hernandez notched four victories in the first week. Abel Lezcano had three wins from just eight starts to post the best win percentage of the week (38%). He was followed by Kazushi Kimura, Umberto Rispoli and Ricky Gonzalez who had two wins apiece.
The trainers standings are a bunched field after week one.
No less than four trainers are tied atop the list with three scores apiece: Phil D’Amato, Michael McCarthy, Peter Miller and John Sadler. Two of D’Amato’s victories came on Saturday when he swept the pair of stakes races, the $100,000 Wickerr with Almendares and the $200,000 San Clemente with Thought Process. Miller won the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes with Game Winner.
The top foursome is followed by Mark Glatt, Doug O’Neill, Leonard Powell, Tim Yakteen and Peter Eurton, who each made two trips to the winner’s circle. One of Eurton’s victories came in Sunday’s feature, the $100,000 Osunitas with Medoro.
Muir Hut Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners lead the charge among the owners at Del Mar with two wins apiece.
The average field size after 32 races is a healthy 9.41. On the dirt it was 8.75 and 10.06 on the turf. The four stakes races averaged out to 10-horses per race.
“Ship and Win” is off to a good start with 15 horses qualifying for the bonuses that go to out-of-state horses running in California for the first time. Three of them won their respective races. There was a significant increase in Santa Anita “Ship and Win” starters compared to last year. This year there were 15 starters who made their first starts in California up at Santa Anita and thus are able to roll-it-over to Del Mar. Last year there were just two.
OM N JOY GUNS FOR FOURTH WIN IN A ROW IN FRIDAY’S FLEET TREAT
The stakes action continues at Del Mar Friday with the first of eight Cal-bred stakes this summer, the $150,000 Fleet Treat for 3-year-old fillies.
In many ways the Fleet Treat resembles the Melair Stakes run over the Memorial Day weekend at Santa Anita, with one glaring exception. The Melair was run at a mile and a sixteenth. The Fleet Treat is seven furlongs. Still, the top four finishers in the Melair are back for the Fleet Treat.
Om N Joy won the Melair, beating Going Deep by half a length. Lady Mendelssohn was third another 2 ¼ lengths back and Fibonaccis Ride was fourth, five lengths behind the winner.
It was the third win in a row for Om N Joy, a daughter of Om, the 2015 Del Mar Derby winner. Om N Joy broke her maiden in March at Santa Anita on her seventh try. She then won the $125,000 Evening Jewel in April followed by the win in the Melair.
“She is just getting steadily better,” trainer Aggie Ordonez says. “Just her natural growth and development is helping me, that’s in my corner. She’s getting bigger and stronger and more mature. She’s really getting the hang of what she’s here to do and what her job is. She’s a wonderful filly to train.”
After four failed tries on the turf, she was switched back to dirt and hasn’t lost since.
“I think that played a big role,” Ordonez states. “She loves the dirt and she seems to love Del Mar and she’s doing better than ever. I keep pinching myself. It’s true, she’s a rock star.”
Kent Desormeaux gets the return call on Om N Joy.
Going Deep got run down by Om N Joy in the Melair, so the shorter distance might suit her well.
“She’s cutting back to one turn,” trainer Doug O’Neill notes. “She’s got a win down here in the past and we’re just taking advantage of the Cal-bred program. She’s doing very well. Came out of her last good. We just focused on this Cal-bred race after that and it’s lining up the way we hoped.”
Going Deep, a daughter of Bodexpress, was fourth in the Evening Jewel, behind Om N Joy and another horse in the Fleet Treat, Hot Girl Walk, a winner at Del Mar as a 2-year-old.
“She was a very successful 2-year-old in Cal-bred company,“ trainer Carla Gaines explains. “We gave her a little bit of a break because she had run quite frequently. After we brought her back and she ran third in the Evening Jewel we had no choice but to go into open company and maybe she was a little overmatched in those.”
Hot Girl Walk won the $100,000 Generous Portion last September but hasn’t won since. She’s been trying open company of late.
Drink This Cup is out of the Michael Stidham barn and ships-in from Delaware Park where she broke her maiden by nine lengths. The daughter of Stay Thirsty is 2-for-3 lifetime.
Sunset Grazen was second to Om N Joy in the Evening Jewel, her first race in the barn of Blaine Wright, one of the many Northern California trainers who have relocated to Southern California this year. She was entered in the Fleet Treat but developed a bruised hoof days before the race and had to be scratched.
The Fleet Treat is Race 7 on the eight-race card on the first of Del Mar’s Friday evening programs. First post is 4 p.m. The probable post for the Fleet Treat is 7 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with jockey and morning line odds: Going Deep (Edwin Maldonado, 12-1); Hurricane Layla (Diego Herrera, 15-1); Om N Joy (5/2); Cooling Off (Serafin Carmona, 30-1); Drink This Cup (Juan Hernandez, 3-1); Young Love (Mike Smith, 8-1); Lady Mendelssohn (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); In the Air Tonight (Kazushi Kimura, 15-1); Hot Girl Walk (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Fibonaccis Ride (Mirco Demuro, 15-1); Ellen Jorth (Antonio Fresu, 6-1) and Sunset Grazen (Scratched).
COOLING OUT: Friends and family are mourning the passing of Humberto Ascanio, longtime assistant trainer for Bobby Frankel. He was Frankel’s right-hand man for 36 years. He took over the stable when Frankel died in 2009 and was successful in his own right. In 2012 he suffered a stroke and was forced to retire. Ascanio was 78-years-old…Sunday was Antonio Gates Day in San Diego and the former Charger and NFL Hall of Famer spent part of his day at Del Mar…It’s not every day you come to the races and watch a horse named after you, let alone have him win a race. But turf writer Jay Privman had the privilege to see his namesake Privman win Race 6 on Sunday. It turned out to be trainer Bob Baffert’s 3,500th lifetime winner…A couple of busy mornings for the Del Mar clockers over the weekend. 251 horses worked Saturday morning. Then another 375 put in official works on the dirt and turf on Sunday. “It was very busy Sunday,” clocker John Malone said. “They just kept coming and coming.”…Notable works this week: Monday – Citizen Bull (4f, :48.20) and Full Serrano (4f, :48.40). Thursday – Straight No Chaser (3f, :36.00).