Published Tuesday, November 4th, 2014   ( 9 years ago )

Stable Notes
November 4 2014

By Hank Wesch
 

 
FIELD OVERFLOWS FOR OPENING DAY KATHRYN CROSBY STAKES
 
Given that there were 32 horses nominated for Friday’s $75,000 Kathryn Crosby, the first stakes event of the inaugural Bing Crosby season, it wasn’t surprising that an overflow 14 runners were listed when entries were finalized Tuesday morning.
 
Twelve will go and two will be given also eligible status for the one-mile test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course for older fillies and mares.
 
The horses for the Kathryn Crosby are:
 
Bee Brave (Tyler Baze), Oscar Party (Victor Espinoza), Bound For Eden (Tiago Pereira), Gender Agenda (Kieren Fallon), Queen of The Sand (Mike Smith), Burning Arch (Elvis Trujillo), Warren’s Veneda (Kent Desormeaux), Kathleen Rose (Rafael Bejarano), Zilber (Gary Stevens), Kitten’s Point (Aaron Gryder), Wishing Gate (Drayden Van Dyke), Miss Ellany (Edwin Maldonado), Floral Romance (Corey Nakatani) and Dutchessa (Brice Blanc).
 
Figuring among the contenders is Queen of The Sand, a 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Footstepsinthesand trained by Patrick Gallagher. Queen of The Sand was a 1 ½-length winner of a mile turf allowance race on August 14 in her only Del Mar start.
 
“She liked the turf down here in the summer and we’re hoping that she likes it in the fall,” Gallagher said Tuesday morning at the backside racing office where the draw was being conducted.
 
Queen of The Sand has six wins in 19 career starts and earnings of $145,730. The Del Mar victory as an 8-5 favorite followed an allowance win at Santa Anita in June and constitute the two victories in four starts in the U.S. Queen of The Sand was seventh of 12 in the Grade I Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita on September 27 and was entered in the Goldikova Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita but withdrawn with the Kathryn Crosby in mind.
 
“We thought we’d try the race down here,” Gallagher said. “But this race isn’t soft at all. Maybe we should have stayed in the Goldikova.”
 

 
SUMMER ALUMS IN QUANTITY AND SHOW QUALITY AT BREEDERS' CUP
 
Thirty-one horses that raced at the 2014 Del Mar Thoroughbred Club summer season went on to racing's highest possible level in last weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia.
 
With at least one representative in all 13 races, which had a combined purse total of $26 million, Del Mar's summer alums accounted for three wins, two second-place finishes, two thirds, two fourths and three fifth-place results. Breeders' Cup purse distributions reward the first five finishers. Owners of horses that raced at Del Mar collected $4,890.000.
 
The wins came from Goldencents, who defended his title in the $1 million Dirt Mile, Judy The Beauty in the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint and Texas Red in the $2 million Juvenile.
 
Bayern, winner of the $5 million Classic, trained at Del Mar through the summer before shipping east for a victory in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth and an up-the-track effort in the Travers at Saratoga. Del Mar Futurity winner American Pharoah was the morning line favorite for the Juvenile before being withdrawn at mid-week due to a deep bruise of the left front foot.
 
Goldencents' Dirt Mile preparation included a victory in the Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar. The last race before the Filly & Mare Sprint for Judy The Beauty was a victory in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap. Texas Red notched his first career victory at Del Mar on August 20 in his second start at the track and third of his career.
 
A rundown of the Del Mar contingent, with results in order of the Breeders' Cup races:
 
Juvenile Turf -- Daddy D T 3rd; Dirt Mile -- Goldencents 1st, Big Bane Theory 5th, Fed Biz 7th; Juvenile Fillies Turf -- Sunset Glow 2nd; Distaff -- Iotapa 3rd, Tiz Midnight 6th; Juvenile Fillies -- Danette 5th, Conquest Ecllipse 7th, Majestic Presence 9th, Hennythelovepenny 12th; Filly & Mare Turf -- Parranda 6th; Filly & Mare Sprint Judy The Beauty 1st, Living The Life 10th; Turf Sprint -- Reneesgotzip 9th, Home Run Kitten 11th, Silentio 14th; Juvenile -- Texas Red 1st, One Lucky Dane 6th; Turf -- Big John B 9th, Starspangled Heat 12th; Sprint -- Big Macher 9th, Seeking the Sherif 11th; Mile -- Summer Front 4th, Obviously 5th, Tom's Tribute 7th; Classic -- Toast of New York 2nd, Shared Belief 4th, Footbridge 10th, Majestic Harbor 13th.
 

 
DEL MAR JOCKEY COLONY REPRESENTS WELL AT BREEDERS' CUP
 
Of a possible 39 on-the-board (top three) finishes in the 13 Breeders' Cup races, one-third went to horses ridden by Del Mar-based jockeys.
 
Martin Garcia provided the highlight, guiding Bayern to victory for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Kaleem Shah in the $5 million Classic. That put Garcia in the company of Rafael Bejarano (Goldencents, Dirt Mile), Victor Espinoza (Take Charge Brandi, Juvenile Fillies), Mike Smith (Judy The Beauty, Filly & Mare Sprint), and Kent Desormeaux (Texas Red, Juvenile) with 2014 Breeders' Cup victories.
 
Smith's was No. 21, adding to his Breeders' Cup riding victory record.
 
Smith, Espinoza and Garcia also had second-place finishes while Corey Nakatani, Joe Talamo, Smith, Martin Pedroza and Espinoza also had third-place finishes.
 

 
BEJARANO, BAFFERT ARRIVE WITH TITLES FROM SANTA ANITA MEETING
 
Rafael Bejarano returned from five weeks away with a shoulder injury on the opening day of the Del Mar summer meeting and, against the odds, recorded his third straight riding title, counting 42 wins to 32 for runner-up Kent Desormeaux. The 32-year-old native of Peru has since resumed his domination of the region, winning his 20th Southern California circuit crown at the Santa Anita fall meeting, which concluded Sunday, with 28 victories to 26 for runner-up Joe Talamo..
 
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert followed up his first Breeders' Cup Classic victory on Saturday with three wins on Sunday to claim the Santa Anita fall training title with 14 wins, one more than Jerry Hollendorfer and Leandro Mora.
 
Hollendorfer and Peter Miller tied for the summer Del Mar title.
 

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BING
 
For the inaugural Bing Crosby Season at Del Mar, we offer a daily note, quote or anecdote about the track’s founding father for whom the fall meeting is named.
 
For the years from 1934-1954, Crosby hit the entertainment trifecta as the leader in record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses.
 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793