Del Mar © Benoit Photo
RACING RESUMES SUNDAY AS PACIFIC STORM MOVES EAST
Everything’s a go for Sunday racing at Del Mar. The worst of the rain has passed through and except for a rogue scattered shower or two moving through the area throughout the day, things should be dry enough to get in the day’s nine races.
Racing Saturday was cancelled in anticipation of the heavy rains that blew through Del Mar, flooding the parking lots and portions of the backside stable area. Work crews, as they are every race day, were busy first thing this morning cleaning up the facility though it was anything but a routine day for them.
On the backside it was wet and soggy but no major flood issues were reported, the best you could hope for after a thorough soaking the day before. Ponds had formed in the areas between the barns but the shed rows were spared and the horses and their stalls were kept dry.
“We’re fine,” trainer Bob Hess said outside his barn this morning. “It flooded outside some of the older barns but here is okay.”
Berms had been built up around some barns to prevent any flooding and they worked.
With the main track closed, tack walking was the theme of the day on the backside. Horses with their riders walked the shed rows or other paths around the barn area, the horses not minding the sloppy conditions. As a sign of normalcy, horse trailers could be seen dropping off their precious cargo throughout the morning.
Del Mar Track Superintendent Dennis Moore says their rain gauges showed an inch and a half of rain fell on the area beginning Friday afternoon. The track was sealed following the races on Friday and remained sealed through much of Sunday morning. By 11 a.m. the tractors were out with their harrows opening up the track.
“I waited until I felt comfortable that we’re not going to get anymore showers,” Moore said. He added that 11 o’clock was the latest they could hold off.
Moore expects the main track to be ‘good’ by first post at 12:30 p.m. There is no turf racing slated for Sunday at Del Mar.
HIMIKA RETURNS AS HEAVY FAVORITE IN DESI ARNAZ STAKES SUNDAY
Runnin’ late but lookin’ great.
The $100,000 Desi Arnaz will be run Sunday, 24-hours later than originally scheduled but with the same line-up of 2-year-old fillies. The race was postponed due to the inclement weather and then redrawn Thursday. Six 2-year-old fillies will go seven-furlongs on the main track.
Himika is the 3/5 morning line favorite. The G3 Sorrento Stakes winner from last summer at Del Mar tried stiffer company, finishing fourth in the G1 Del Mar Debutante and then fifth in the G2 Oak Leaf at Santa Anita. That was at a mile and a sixteenth and when trainer Bob Baffert shortened her up in her last, the $85,000 Anoakia Stakes, she sailed to a 4 ¼ length victory.
The horse who ran second to Himika in the Anoakia is back in the Desi Arnaz. Revera has done little wrong since her debut at Del Mar in August. She was second that day to Explora, who went on to win the G2 Oak Leaf and run second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Revera came back and broke her maiden in her next race by 5 ½ lengths at the seaside oval.
“It was a good, strong race for her,” trainer John Sadler notes. “Since we started with her we have two seconds and a first and stakes placed so we’re in a good spot.”
The Anoakia was just the third race of Revera’s career and her first stakes.
“She drew the one,” Sadler recalls. “She ran okay but the Baffert filly beat her on the square. Revera likes Del Mar quite a bit so we have a redo today.”
Stuffy Mist ran third in the Anoakia and is back to try the top two again. She drew the inside post for trainer Victor Garcia.
Heaven’s Bolt was eased in her last, the G2 Oak Leaf. She broke her maiden first out at Del Mar so trainer Richard Baltas is hoping for an improved effort.
“She’ll probably make one run and come from behind,” Baltas says. “She’s doing good. I think the long race wasn’t good for her but she won first time out here and she likes Del Mar.”
Bourbon and Ginger also broke her maiden at Del Mar this summer but ran fifth in the Debutante and then sixth in the $100,000 Speakeasy at Santa Anita. That was her first time on the turf. She fired a three-furlong bullet work on Wednesday.
Cosmic Heat has the outside post for trainer Peter Eurton. She broke her maiden in her racing debut at Santa Anita last month.
The Desi Arnaz is Race 8 on the nine-race Sunday card at Del Mar. Probable post is 4 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail out with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Stuffy Mist (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Bourbon and Ginger (Mirco Demuro, 15-1); Himika (Juan Hernandez, 3/5); Revera (Antonio Fresu, 2-1); Heaven’s Bolt (Kazushi Kimura, 8-1) and Cosmic Heat (Hector I. Berrios, 15-1).
GRADE 3’S HIGHLIGHT NEXT WEEKEND
The Native Diver begins a string of nine graded stakes races at Del Mar over the final two weeks of the fall meet.
Saturday is the 48th running of the G3 Native Diver. Nine horses have been nominated to the race including Nevada Beach, winner of the G1 Goodwood at Santa Anita last month before he took a stab at the Breeders’ Cup Classic and ran a non-threatening seventh.
Baffert has also nominated Privman, the popular colt named after retired turf writer Jay Privman, and Winterfell, a 4-year-old Arrogate colt who would be making his first start of the year.
Trainer John Sadler has nominated Indispensible who ran in the Pacific Classic this past summer. And trainer Aggie Ordonez is considering wheeling back and stepping up her Cal-bred Vodka Vodka in the Native Diver.
Recent winners of the Native Diver include Dortmund, Battle of Midway, Defunded and Mr. Fisk. Entries for the race will be drawn Wednesday.
On Sunday we jump up on the turf for the G3 Red Carpet, a mile and three-eighths test that has attracted 14 nominations, including last year’s winner, Mrs. Astor.
Also being considered for the race is Public Assembly, one of five nominees by trainer Philip D’Amato. Mahina, who ran in both the Yellow Ribbon and the John C. Mabee over the summer, has been nominated by Paddy Gallagher.
A couple of out-of-town trainers have nominations for the Red Carpet. Graham Motion is considering the German-bred Sirona and Miguel Clement is eyeing the race for Maryland Millions Turf runner-up Youknownothing.
Entries for the Red Carpet will be drawn Thursday.
DEL MAR PROVIDES BACKDROP AS BREEDERS’ CUP RATINGS SOAR
At no time were more eyes trained on Del Mar than earlier this month when the Breeders’ Cup came to town. NBC has released its ratings for the World Championships and they showed an 18-percent increase over last year’s event, which was also held at Del Mar. An estimated six-million viewers tuned into the Saturday racing.
According to NBC, viewership peaked at 1.4 million during the running of the Classic, won by Forever Young. The average viewership was 950,000, up six percent from 2024.
Breeders’ Cup estimates an additional 300,000 viewers watched the two days of racing at simulcast sights around the country. Breeders’ Cup also reported 1.1 million people dialed up its Players Show that streamed on various platforms including YouTube, Facebook and X.
Breeders’ Cup distributed its live feed to 180 countries around the world.
WINTER CLOTHING DRIVE CONTINUES THROUGH FALL MEET
Del Mar is conducting its Winter Clothing Drive through the Bing Crosby Season which runs until the end of the month. The Race Track Chaplaincy of California helps backside workers in need and one of the ways they assist is with winter clothing.
It can get very chilly on the backside during the month of November and through the winter months up at Santa Anita. By donating your new or gently used coats and jackets you’ll provide comfort and warmth for those who work outdoors on those frigid cold mornings.
Donation bins are set up near the admission gates and in return for your donation, Del Mar will provide free admission to the races.
COOLING OUT: Due to yesterday’s storm and the damp conditions it left behind, the Handicapping Seminar on Sunday has been cancelled. Frank Scatoni and Dan Smith will return next week with their pre-race seminars on Saturday and Sunday at Del Mar…Only joggers will be allowed on the main track Monday according to the Del Mar Racing Office. Saturday and today there was no training since the main track was closed.