Hughes © Benoit Photo
BAFFERT, O’NEILL LOCK HORNS IN G1 DEL MAR FUTURITY SUNDAY
One could argue there is a no more bigger feat in horse racing than trainer Bob Baffert’s dominance in the G1 Del Mar Futurity. The numbers alone back up the claim. Baffert has won the Futurity 19 times. He won it seven years in a row from 1996 to 2002 and will be out to win #20 and his sixth in a row Sunday.
To put Baffert’s achievement into perspective: The trainer with the most Futurity victories after Baffert is the late D. Wayne Lukas with three.
Some of the horses Baffert has won with in the Futurity over the years include Hall of Famers Silver Charm and American Pharoah and Eclipse Award winners Lookin At Lucky and Game Winner.
“Our program has always been young horses,” Baffert explains. “You come in here (to Del Mar) to develop them. I think the clientele and buying young horses and developing them is why I’ve been very fortunate and blessed in the Futurity. It’s a good place to get your young horses ready and hopefully we’ll keep the streak going.”
He certainly comes into this Sunday’s Futurity with a good hand. Five horses have been entered, two by Baffert and three by Del Mar’s leading trainer, Doug O’Neill. Baffert’s pair are Hughes, winner of the G3 Best Pal and Domus a winner first out by 5 ½ lengths.
Hughes is the morning line favorite following a maiden score by six lengths at Los Alamitos in June and the Best Pal victory by 7 ¾ lengths last month.
“The Best Pal was good,” Baffert says. “He’s come back and he looks good. He acts like a horse that wants to go two turns. I’m surprised he’s showing that kind of speed. He doesn’t show that kind of speed in the morning. He shows it in the afternoon which is a good thing. We’re excited about him.”
Hughes is a son of Into Mischief. His stablemate and co-favorite in the Futurity is Domus, another first-time maiden winner at Del Mar in July.
“He can really run,” Baffert insists. “Distance is going to be his friend but he needs to run. An allowance race would have been great but I think he’ll do well.”
The rest of the field in the Futurity comes out of the O’Neill barn. There’s Phone Booth, a son of Pavel who ran second to Hughes in the Best Pal last time out.
“That was a happy second,” insists Leandro Mora, assistant trainer to O’Neill. “He was way too green and I think he can improve.”
Phone Booth was last to the top of the lane then passed everybody in the field but Hughes.
“He’s a sharp horse,” Mora says “I wouldn’t underestimate him because he’s a full brother to Pavlovian. I’m crossing my fingers hoping he’ll follow in his brother’s footsteps.”
Dang Son is another O’Neill entry. He broke his maiden last time out going a mile on the turf at Del Mar last month.
“The reason he was on turf is because we want him to run long,” Mora explains. “He has very little speed so that’s why we’re looking for distance with him.”
Dang Son is a son of Good Magic. He was also entered in the G3 Juvenile Turf but they decided to switch him back to dirt in the Futurity.
O’Neill’s third entry is High Pronto, who may just be the one to challenge the two Baffert horses on the front end.
“He’s a fast horse,” Mora notes. “He’s probably the one who has to go. Hopefully he can stay there the whole trip.”
The 79th running of the G1 Del Mar Futurity will go off as Race 4 on Sunday, the first of a stakes tripleheader. Probable post time is 3 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Phone Booth (Umberto Rispoli, 8-1); High Pronto (Kazushi Kimura, 10-1); Dang Son (Emisael Jaramillo, 15-1); Hughes (Juan Hernandez, 4/5), and Domus (Antonio Fresu, 7/5).
DESERT GATE RETURNS TO DEL MAR IN SHARED BELIEF STAKES
Desert Gate returns to the races Sunday as the morning line favorite in the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. The son of Omaha Beach was a major player in the 2-year-old division at Del Mar last year, winning the G3 Best Pal Stakes before running second to stablemate Brant in the G1 Del Mar Futurity.
He went up to Santa Anita and won the G1 American Pharoah, the west coast prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. But there would be no Breeders’ Cup for Desert Gate in 2025. A week before the race he developed an infection on his hock and was withdrawn from the race.
He made his 2026 / 3-year-old debut in the G3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita in February and finished fourth at which point Baffert decided to take his colt out of town. It was just what the doctor ordered. They landed at Oaklawn Park and promptly won the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes by 9 ¾ lengths. He followed that victory with a win in the $300,000 Texas Derby at Lone Star Park where he won by 6 ¼ lengths.
That’s why he was the odds-on favorite to win the G3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown in June but instead ran a disappointing fourth. He didn’t fare much better in the $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows a month later where he also ran fourth.
Baffert brought Desert Gate back to Southern California, gave him a two-month freshening and entered him in the Shared Belief where seven other 3-year-olds will be waiting to take a shot.
One of those is Ocean Bear, winner of last fall’s $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Stakes on Breeders’ Cup Friday. It was the son of Bolt d’Oro’s third straight score after breaking his maiden at Del Mar in September and then winning an entry-level allowance race at Santa Anita in October.
He’s only run once this year in the $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar in July.
“He ran good,” trainer George Papaprodromou stated. “He was coming off a layoff and was a good third. He had been good up to that. He’s more mature now. This is a tough race and it’s his first time going long so we’ll see how it goes.”
Ocean Bear was a head better than the fourth-place finisher in the Real Good Deal. That was Start the Ride, who also returns in the Shared Belief. The son of Upstart was runner-up in the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby in June followed by his run in the Real Good Deal Stakes.
“It was just too short for him,” trainer Dan Blacker insists. “The track was very speed favoring. He’s more of a two-turn horse so the track bias was playing against him. He ran well; he just needs more distance.”
Another contender is Ahrens, a strapping colt by Modernist who won an entry level allowance race at Del Mar last out. It was his second victory in a row and his third in four starts for trainer John Sadler.
The Shared Belief, named after the popular 2014 Pacific Classic winner who also won the G1 Malibu and the G1 Santa Anita Handicap, is Race 8 on the 11-race Sunday card. Probable post time is 5 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: One More Freud (Mike Smith, 12-1); Start the Ride (Kazushi Kimura, 12-1); Desert Gate (Juan Hernandez, 9/5); Essos (Joel Rosario, 5-1); Decisive Win (Antonio Fresu, 3-1); Mo Koko (Victor Espinoza, 20-1); Ocean Bear (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1), and Ahrens (Hector I. Berrios, 7/2).
ECLECTIC GROUP OF 2-YEAR-OLDS CLASH IN JUVENILE FILLIES TURF
It’s the 2-year-old fillies turn to take a spin on the turf course when they run the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on Sunday. It’s the last of three stakes races on the card and features nine fillies, eight of whom have never faced winners. Half the field is coming off of maiden scores and only two have won at the same one-mile distance they’ll be negotiating in Juvenile Fillies Turf.
One of those is Ogle, a daughter of Oscar Performance who won at first asking at Del Mar last month. She got off a step slow in the race but angled out and came rolling late to win by 2 ¼ lengths.
“I expected her to run well first time out,” trainer Michael McCarthy admits. “I was torn whether to wait for Santa Anita or send her to Kentucky Downs but she gets to run out of her own stall here and she gets Juan Hernandez.”
Another with two-turn experience is Dee Snook from the barn of Del Mar’s leading trainer Doug O’Neill. The Irish-bred started her career at Churchill Downs but it wasn’t until she came out to Del Mar and they stretched her out to the mile that she responded with a nice victory on July 26, coming from the back of the pack and picking them up late.
“She was a good surprise for us,” O’Neill’s assistant Leandro Mora says. “We’re excited with how she finished and, if she comes in first or second here, we can start dreaming about the Breeders’ Cup.”
While the Juvenile Fillies Turf is not a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup, the lack of one-mile turf races for 2-year-olds makes it a good prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland on October 30.
Vanta is the morning line favorite in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf. She also won at first asking for trainer Jeff Mullins on July 31 at Del Mar. That race was five furlongs on the grass so she’ll be stretching out and facing winners for the first time Sunday.
Handicappers know to always be aware of a European shipper and this race has two. River in Paradise will make her U.S. debut Sunday after breaking her maiden at first asking going six furlongs on the all-weather at Lingfield in England in June.
“She came to us in the early part of July,” trainer Leonard Powell notes. “She was bought by Marsha Naify in England. She only has one start but we’ve been very happy with her. We’ve worked with her on the grass a few times and she’s got better with every work. We expect a good effort.”
The other Euro is Queenofthewild, an Irish-bred who is still a maiden. She ran twice in Ireland before being purchased by Little Red Feather, Sterling Stables and Marsha Naify in June and will be making her first start for them and trainer Philip D’Amato.
Another worth noting is Less Please, a daughter of Pavel, who missed by a nose in her debut at Del Mar in July. Trainer Edward Freeman switched her to turf and she won easily in her second start last month. She’ll be trying two turns for the first time.
Further still Blockade broke her maiden second time out at Los Alamitos by eight lengths in June. She followed with a fifth-place finish in the G3 Sorrento last month. This will be her first race on the grass but in her final workout for trainer Ryan Hanson she posted a bullet for five furlongs in 1:00.60 (1/11) on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
The 15th running of the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf is Race 9 on Sunday’s 11-race card. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: River in Paradise (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Ogle (6-1); Blockade (Adrian Escobedo, 20-1); Vanta (Umberto Rispoli, 2-1); Dee Snook (Antonio Fresu, 4-1); Less Please (Hector I. Berrios, 5-1); Vendetta (Kazushi Kimura, 8-1), Confetti Rain (Emisael Jaramillo, 15-1), and Queenofthewild (Joel Rosario, 6-1).
GREGSON FOUNDATION EARMARKS $400K FOR BACKSIDE SCHOLARSHIPS
Back in 1998 the California Thoroughbred Trainers board set out to develop a non-profit organization to enhance the lives of the hard-working backstretch workers and their families. These folks put in long hours taking care of the horses we love and the CTT and others felt it was time to take care of them.
The organization has since been named the Gregson Foundation, after the late veteran trainer Eddie Gregson, who spearheaded the effort 28 years ago. Today they provide scholarships for the children of backstretch workers.
“Thursday a subset of the board met,” says board member Tom Reynolds, “and we’re granting nearly $400,000 in scholarships to the backstretch workers’ kids for the upcoming school year.”
Last year the foundation provided a total of $191,500 to five new scholarship recipients in addition to 14 past recipients. The year before the amount provided totaled $168,000.
The foundation also provides career counseling for backstretch workers and their families.
“We also do special events,” Reynolds adds. “Things like In-and-Out trucks for the backstretch families and we do Christmas parties, but by and large the biggest thing we do is provide the scholarships.”
If you’d like to help out with this worthy cause just go to their website at Gregsonfoundation.com and click the donate button.
COOLING OUT: Trainer Carla Gaines reports all well with Daytona Diamond following the filly’s remarkable run in the Generous Portion Friday. Gaines has no plans yet for the daughter of Tonalist other than to ship her up to Santa Anita with the rest of her stable next week…Notable works for Saturday: Dirt – Sumter (3f, :36.60); Bust Out (4f, :48.00); Inshallah (4f, 48.80); Malarchuk (4f, :49.40); Steak Fries (4f, :48.60); Majestic Oops (5f, 1:00.40); Man O Rose (5f, 1:00.00); Nevada Beach (5f, 1:01.40), and Simply Joking (5f, 1:00.80). 120 horses put in official workouts on the main track at Del Mar Saturday.