In the waning weeks of the 76^th Summer Meeting, which  ends today, there was talk that Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, winner of a record 12 Del Mar Futurities, might not have  a representative for the race which determines the 2-year-old champion of the meeting.

           

Then, last week, Baffert entered Nightly News and Mt Veeder. And the talk quieted down.

           

Monday morning, the two Baffert colts were scratched, Mt Veeder after working five furlongs in 1:00.00, apparently to be part of a stable contingent shipping north to Santa Anita for future racing.

           

The scratches reduced the field for the Grade I $300,000 Futurity to six. If all go, it would still be the smallest Futurity field since Declan’s Moon defeated three rivals in 2004.

           

The field from the rail with oddsmaker Russ Hudak’s revised morning line:  Annie’s Candy (Victor Espinoza, 8-1), Swipe (Kent Desormeaux, 3-1),  Nyquist (Mario Gutierrez, 8-5), Archaeo (James Graham, 20-1), Blameitonthelaw (Tyler Baze, 2-1) and Rockin Bayou (Mike Smith, 6-1).

           

Nyquist was 5-2 on the original morning line. Mt Veeder was the fourth choice at 5-1, Nightly News 8-1.

 

A year ago, Baffert won his 12^th Del Mar Futurity with a maiden colt named American Pharoah who was 4 ¾-lengths clear at the wire.

           

The more than 3-1 odds and $8.40 win payoff was more than American Pharoah backers would ever see again. He paid $7.80 winning the Kentucky Derby en route  to the Triple Crown Championship.

           

American Pharoah will be an impossible Del Mar Futurity act to follow. But somebody’s got to do it.

 

           

Trainer Dan Hendricks reported Monday morning that Om, winner of Sunday’s Del Mar Derby, had come out of the race in good shape and likely has a couple more  “Derbies” remaining in his 2015 campaign.

           

“We’ll ship up to Santa Anita, see how he’s doing and go from there,” Hendricks said. “Being conservative, he could go in the Twilight Derby and then come back down here for the Hollywood Derby in the fall.”

           

The Grade II $200,000 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on October 24 and the Grade I $300,000 Hollywood Derby on November 28 here, are both 1 1/8-mile turf events. As Hendricks points out, “the same race” in terms of surface and distance as Sunday’s Grade II $250,000 Del Mar Derby which the Kentucky-bred son of Munnings won wire-to-wire under Gary Stevens.

           

“It’s the same schedule I used with Daytona a few years ago,” Hendricks said. “Then when he turns four, we’ll switch him to the dirt.”

           

Hendricks, who spent part of his youth in the San Diego area and attended Torrey Pines High, was elated over his first Del Mar Derby victory.

           

“I’ve won just about every Derby in Southern California – Santa Anita, Hollywood, Oak Tree and now this one,” he said in the winner’s circle afterward. “This was my dream to win this race, and it really means a lot to me. As much as my Santa Anita Derby.”

 

 

           

With neither Jerry Hollendorfer nor Peter Miller saddling a winner on Sunday, defending meeting co-champions remain two wins apart (22-20) entering the final day of the meeting.

           

Here’s Hollendorfer’s lineup: Nahem (5^th, 6-1), Seaside Story (6^th, 9-2), C.C. Zipp (6^th, 5-1), Dreamarcher (7^th, 4-1) and Glory (10^th, 7-2).

           

For Miller it’s: One of the Greats (3^rd, 4-1), Notorious Nicole (6^th, 4-1), Two Steps of Glory (7^th, 12-1) and Annie’s Candy (8^th, 8-1).

           

In 2014, Miller trailed by one entering the final day and managed one victory while Hollendorfer was shut out.

           

Rafael Bejarano has his fourth straight riding title clinched with a 10-win margin (39-29) over Flavien Prat.

 

 

In 25 years of covering horse racing for the San Diego Union and later the Union-Tribune starting in 1985, I was able, on many occasions, to talk about the sport in general and the Triple Crown specifically with Bill Nack, who wrote the book “Secretariat.”

           

On the subject of Triple Crown winners Bill once offered the opinion, sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s -- and I’m paraphrasing -- that the world was a better place when there was a living one in residence. And I agreed.

           

Maudlin? Maybe. But you hang around the sport and the magnificent creatures it’s based upon, especially at the highest levels, and you can get that way.

           

Count Fleet, the 1943 Derby winner, held on to age 33 in December of 1973,  bridging the 25-year gap in Triple Crown champions from Citation in 1948 to Secretariat in 1973.

 

But the passing of Secretariat in 1989, Affirmed in 2001 and Seattle Slew in 2002, and the dying of 13 Triple Crown bids at the Belmont over the years, left a 13-year-gap without a living Triple Crown winner. I thought about that when American Pharoah ended the 37-year drought in June.

           

With that in mind, it’s been a pleasure to briefly chronicle the daily doings of American Pharoah in this space during the meeting. To make the trek to the Baffert barn early in the morning each racing day. To watch the routine and observe how Baffert, assistant Jim Barnes and American Pharoah comported themselves admirably to the onlookers – whether they were family, friends or strangers – who showed up.

           

“Everybody wants to see something great, and he’s a great horse,” Baffert said.

           

That said, here’s the final American Pharoah Today from Del Mar:

           

The Triple Crown champion jogged once around the perimeter of the track under exercise rider George Alvarez.    

 

 

CLOSERS – Wonder why Mike Smith was so animated after Sunday’s Yellow Ribbon Handicap? The winner he’d just ridden, She’s Not Here, is a three-quarter sister to Zenyatta … Jockey Edwin Maldonado won’t reach the 1,000 win milestone at the meeting, but a victory on his only mount of the day, favored Unforgettable U (3-1) in the last race, would put him at 999 … Selected works from 115 officially timed Monday morning: Elektrum (6f, 1:14.00), Bayern (6f, 1:11.80), Mt Veeder (5f, 1:00.00), Hoppertunity (5f, :59.40), Famous Alice (5f, 1:00.80), Winning Prize (4f, :50.80), Kobe’s Back (4f, :46.40) … Thanks to all Stable Notes readers. We’ll be back for the Bing Crosby meeting, which starts on Thursday, October 29 and continues through November 29.

 

 

 

Jockey Standings
(Current Through Sunday, September 6, 2015 Inclusive)
Jockey	Mts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	Money Won
Rafael Bejarano	216	39	42	30	18%	$2,504,258
Flavien Prat	186	29	28	26	16%	$2,144,894
Joseph Talamo	189	27	17	16	14%	$1,585,948
Tyler Baze	209	26	27	30	12%	$1,652,060
Santiago Gonzalez	177	23	18	23	13%	$1,356,296
Mario Gutierrez	135	23	15	12	17%	$1,314,156
Kent Desormeaux	103	21	12	13	20%	$1,083,754
Martin Garcia	139	18	14	17	13%	$1,288,930
Corey Nakatani	87	16	11	4	18%	$767,246
Victor Espinoza	99	13	15	13	13%	$993,606

 

Trainer Standings
(Current Through Sunday, September 6, 2015 Inclusive)
Trainer	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Win%	Money Won
Jerry Hollendorfer	99	22	12	14	22%	$1,515,902
Peter Miller	138	20	22	17	14%	$1,364,826
Doug F. O'Neill	105	14	21	12	13%	$1,227,050
Philip D'Amato	86	14	11	13	16%	$1,020,072
Richard Baltas	75	14	7	14	19%	$746,946
Bob Baffert	62	12	11	8	19%	$1,006,520
Mike Puype	74	12	4	9	16%	$660,090
John W. Sadler	59	11	6	5	19%	$609,734
Robert B. Hess, Jr.	58	11	4	9	19%	$393,202
Richard E. Mandella	40	8	6	9	20%	$1,586,976

 

Winning Favorites Report
(Current Through Sunday, September 6, 2015 Inclusive)
Winning favorites	104	344	30.23%
Winning favorites on dirt	76	233	32.62%
Winning favorites on turf	28	111	25.23%
Winning odds-on favorites	20	41	48.78%
In-the-Money favorites	198	344	57.56%
In-the-Money odds-on favorites	35	41	85.37%

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793