Lovesick Blues © Benoit Photo
NYSOS SHINES, LOVESICK BLUES SHOCKS ‘EM IN SATURDAY STAKES
Fans in attendance at Del Mar Saturday were treated to a rising star, a shocking upset and a glimpse into the future.
Nysos stepped out and won the G2 San Diego Handicap as the 1/9 favorite, punching his ticket to next month’s G1 Pacific Classic. The 4-year-old son of Nyquist worked out of a tight spot on the rail at the top of the lane and cruised past stablemate Mirahmadi to win easily and give his conditioner, Bob Baffert, some sense of relief.
“I was so nervous earlier because I’ve had a lot of good horses get beat in the San Diego,” Baffert notes. “Bode (his son) told me ‘Please don’t run Nysos in the San Diego; our record’s not that great’.”
Champion Arrogate comes to mind as a defeated Baffert favorite in the San Diego. As it turned out, the Hall of Fame trainer had nothing to worry about.
While Nyso’s was impressive in the San Diego, it could be argued his was not the best performance by a Baffert horse on Saturday. Earlier in the day he sent out his high-priced juvenile, Brant, in a maiden special weight and the colt romped, winning by 5 ¼ lengths.
“We’ve never really turned him loose in the mornings,” Baffert explains. ”We didn’t want him to get too racy. But he ran like a professional today. Sat off the pace, tracked horses and that’s what you want to see. I have to thank Amr Zedan, he stepped up to buy him. He gets all the credit. He’s a 5-star recruit right there.”
Zedan forked out $3 million dollars for the son of Gun Runner.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Baffert concedes. “When you spend this kind of money for a horse expectations are high. You expect something like this. But he looked the part today.”
Next up, the G1 Del Mar Futurity on September 7.
Like his stablemate Nysos, Brant was a heavy favorite. That could not be said for the winner of the stakes nightcap Saturday. Lovesick Blues sent a shock through the crowd of 13,091 when he circled the field and got up to win the G1 Bing Crosby at 18-1. It was the first Grade I win for trainer Librado Barocio, who was understandably emotional after the race.
“Hey man, a miracle is happening,” Barocio stated. “My first Grade I. We’re gamblers, you know. You got to swing the bat if you want to hit the grand slam.”
Barocio has enjoyed success as a movie producer and he’s had his moments as a horse trainer. But nothing at this level. He thanked his jockey for convincing him to run Lovesick Blues on the dirt.
“I’ve only ridden him in grass races,” jockey Giovanni Franco said. “But on the dirt he was always dragging me out there (in morning works). So I told Librado ‘why not take a chance’ in the Crosby.”
The Bing Crosby is a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Barocio has every intention of making that dance this fall at Del Mar.
LARRY COLLMUS TAKES OVER FOR DENMAN IN DEL MAR BOOTH
There’s been a changing of the guard, so to speak. An end of an era at Del Mar.
Larry Collmus has assumed the reins in the announcer’s booth this summer. After several years calling the Bing Crosby meet, Collmus will do both meets in 2025 and beyond. After 54 years behind the mic – 40 of them at Del Mar -- Trevor Denman decided to retire and enjoy life with his wife on their farm back in Minnesota.
Enter Collmus who has established himself as one of the premier race callers of this generation, calling the Kentucky Derby since 2011 and the Breeders’ Cup since 2012. He’s worked at most of the major tracks around the country and jokes about following racing icons.
“This is my second time following a legend,” Collmus says. “I did it with Tom Durkin in New York. So call me the ‘legend follower’.”
Because of his experience, it’s been a smooth transition for Collmus to fulltime Del Mar announcer. He says working here for a few years, five Fall Meets and one summer session to be exact, and getting to know many of the people and the layout goes a long way when adjusting to the new gig.
Larry comes to Del Mar with a whole new wardrobe. One he had to go out and buy after he went through a weight loss regiment this winter that helped him lose 76-pounds.
“It started August 13, I remember the exact date,” Collmus begins. “I had got back to New Jersey from here. I had been here for the first couple of weeks for FanDuel and I was walking around and my back was hurting me, I was out of breath and thought ‘I have to do something about this.’ So I saw my doctor and he suggested I try one of those weight loss things called Zepbound.
“It reworks your brain to the point where you want to eat healthy,” Collmus continues. “So I got on that and proceeded to change my diet and did a lot more exercise. I went from 225 to 149 pounds.”
He says he feels great and no longer finds the stairs in the Del Mar grandstand a daunting task.
“On Saturday I was talking with friends in the press box and I noticed the horses were about to come out on the track and it was time for me to go. I ran up the stairs, up to the mic and said ‘the horses are on the track.’ Never out of breath at all. Last year I would have died.”
Collmus has known Trevor Denman for almost 40 years. They first met in the mid-eighties, when he and a high school buddy came cross country to experience California racing. They visited Del Mar and met Trevor up in the booth.
“It was an old building then, different from now,” Collmus recalls of the old wooden grandstand. “Then two years later I was hired to be the announcer at Golden Gate for the first half of the meet and Trevor did the second half. So we worked together that year. He came up from Santa Anita. At the time he wasn’t working at Hollywood Park. Trevor would come up to Golden Gate and call the last part of the meet there. I would work in the racing office but I spent a lot of time up in the booth.
“He was the one who told me I needed to get a better pair of binoculars,” Collmus adds. “He also gave me some tips on what to look for. How to watch the horses and how they are running in the race, the ears and such, and what the jockeys were doing. I learned a lot from him.”
The two crossed paths again in 2012 when Collmus came to Santa Anita to call his first Breeders’ Cup.
“It (the Breeders’ Cup telecast) had gone back from ESPN to NBC that year,” Collmus remembers. “Trevor was ESPN’s announcer. I had just started with NBC and they had Trevor do most of the races while I did the Classic and the Lady’s Classic. The first Breeders’ Cup winner I called was Royal Delta and then Fort Larned in the Classic.”
The first year Collmus called the races at Del Mar was in 2020, the first summer of Covid. Denman decided not to make the trip out from Minnesota so Del Mar asked Larry if he’d like to fill in and he jumped at the opportunity. Del Mar was so pleased they brought him back in the fall and he’s done every fall meet since.
“When I first started in June of 1985 I just wanted to call (races),” Collmus states. “I didn’t have high aspirations. It was more like ‘this would be a fun job to have. We’ll see where it goes.’ I didn’t think it would ever go where it went. All the lucky things I’ve been able to do.”
G1 CLEMENT HIRSCH HIGHLIGHTS WEEK 3 STAKES MENU
Another stakes packed weekend is instore at Del Mar next week featuring the second Grade I event of the season and the first 2-year-old stake.
Five stakes races in all are on tap beginning with the 38th running of the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes on Friday. It’s part of the Golden State Series and is restricted to Cal-bred 3-year-olds. Nine have been nominated for the 7-furlong event on the main track including Cal Cup Derby winner, Shea Brennan, out of the Phil D’Amato barn and Style Cat from the Peter Miller stable, winner of the Echo Eddie Stakes at Santa Anita in April.
Entries for the Real Good Deal Stakes will be drawn later today (Sunday).
Saturday August 2 features a stakes twin bill highlighted by the 55th running of the $400,000 G1 Clement Hirsch Stakes by Oak Tree Racing Division, a ‘Win and You’re In’ for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nine fillies and mares are nominated for the mile and a sixteenth test, including the dynamic Kopion from the Richard Mandella barn.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who won the race last year with Adare Manor, has nominated three fillies: Hope Road, Nothing Like You and Seismic Beauty, as well as the Chilean-bred mare, Richi. He most likely will not run all four. His tendency is to make multiple nominations to a race and then bring one or two.
The second half of the stakes doubleheader on Saturday will be the 20th running of the $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes for 3-year-olds and up going a mile and a sixteenth on the grass. It’s restricted to Cal-breds and has 16 nominations to the race, including 2024 Cal-bred Turf Horse of the Year, Kings River Knight from the John Sadler stable.
Entries for Saturday’s races will be drawn Wednesday.
Next Sunday, August 3, brings two more stakes races including Del Mar’s first juvenile race of 2025, the $100,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes. It will be the 72nd running of the C.T.B.A., a 5-furlong sprint for Cal-bred 2-year-old fillies. Nine have been nominated and six have already paid visits to the winner’s circle this year.
The other stakes race Sunday is the 85th running of the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap, a mile and a sixteenth grass race for 3-year-olds. Seventeen have been nominated for the race including Iron Man Cal, the tough luck runner-up in the Oceanside Stakes on opening day.
Sunday’s entries are scheduled to be drawn Thursday.
COOLING OUT: Defending jockeys champion, Juan Hernandez, jumped to the front of the line with three victories Saturday. He scored with Young Love in Race 5, Pushiness in the Daisycutter Handicap and Adios Cole in the nightcap. Hernandez now has nine wins on the meet, tied with Antonio Fresu, who swept the early daily double Saturday…No time to take a break if you’re a clocker at Del Mar these days. Sunday saw another barrage of workers on the main track and on the turf. 262 horses put in official works on the dirt and another 27 on the turf. Notable works on Sunday: Dirt – Stronghold (4f, 49.60); Kings River Knight (5f, 1:01.40); Sweet Azteca (5f, 1:01.00) and Tenma (5f, 1:00.20). Turf – Queen Maxima (3f, :37.40); Ag Bullet (4f, :47.40); King of Gosford (4f, :50.00); Motorious (4f, :51.00); Truly Quality (4f, :51.80) and Hang the Moon (5f, 1:03.20).