The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)TEN HEAD FOR SAN CLEMENTE, SIX FOR SAN DIEGO IN DEL MAR STAKES
Ten 3-year-old fillies are expected to go postward in the Grade II San Clemente Handicap and six older horses are set to go in the Grade III San Diego Handicap as Del Mar offers a stakes doubleheader Saturday.
Gastronomical heads the San Clemente field. If all 10 start, the purse will be worth $107,200, with $67,200 going to the winner. For each scratch, deduct $300 from each figure.
Nonproductiveasset heads the field for the San Diego. If the six go, the purse will be worth $156,450, with the winner's portion worth $96,450. In the event of a scratch, deduct $1,000 from each figure.
CTBA WINNER COMES OUT OF RACE IN FINE SHAPE; DEBUTANTE POSSIBLE
Pismo Bay, bred and owned by John Valpredo and trained by Ulises Olguin, stood quietly in her stall Saturday morning following her upset victory in Friday's California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Stakes at Del Mar.
"She came out of the race fine," said Valpredo, a longtime farmer and horse breeder from Bakersfield. The 2-year-old gray daughter of Corwyn Bay burst clear in the stretch and ran down One More Angel, part of the 3-5 favorite entry that included Fairness, to win by 1 3/4 lengths under the skillful ride of young Brice Blanc.
John Sadler, trainer of One More Angel, who was considered the stronger half of the two-horse entry, voiced disappointment with the outcome of the race Saturday morning, but said his filly came out of the race fine.
The next start for the winner could be the Grade II, $250,000-guaranteed Del Mar Debutante on August 25, trainer Olguin said following the victory.
LOSING APPRENTICE "BUG" DOESN'T SLOW DOWN RIDER BRICE BLANC
Brice Blanc came to Del Mar last year as something of a mystery, an apprentice jockey from France who had had a bit of success during the Hollywood Park meeting. Well, he came away with the meet's apprentice honors on 11 victories, 13 seconds and 20 thirds from 163 mounts.
The 23-year-old Blanc is back as a journeyman rider and has made quite a mark for himself among his American counterparts, finishing in a tie for seventh in the Hollywood Park jockey standings with 41 victories, 15 of those coming after he lost the apprentice weight allowance. In the process, he chalked up more wins than longtime and well-established Southern California riders Laffit Pincay Jr., Martin Pedroza and Corey Black.
One of the high points of the year for Blanc was finishing second in the Santa Anita Handicap aboard Luthier Fever. He will ride the horse back in Del Mar's $1,000,000 Pacific Classic on August 10, a day in which Cigar could set a North American record of 17 consecutive victories, or one in which Tinners Way could capture his third straight Pacific Classic to become the first horse to win the same million-dollar race three times.
Blanc, who won his second race of the Del Mar meet Friday aboard CTBA victress Pismo Bay, says things have gone very well for him since he turned journeyman. That shows, he says, that people still have confidence in him, and that it just wasn't the break that got him mounts.
About his riding skills, he says: "I just try the best I can. I try to relax my horses and get them comfortable the way they want to be without rushing them or taking them back, and so far it's been working good and so far a lot of people have been happy with what I've been doing, so I guess that's the right way."
What's been the most difficult thing for him to get used to? "I think the most difficult thing for me from the beginning was sprinting and breaking from the gate sprinting," Blanc said. "That's what I had to work on. I learned it really quick, but I had some problems getting used to it because the pace is so much faster [than in Europe]. But I watched a lot of races and a lot of riders and I learned."
Blanc acknowledges that he got help from some of his colleagues in the jockey colony, naming Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye, in particular.
SOUL OF THE MATTER'S WORKOUT LEAVES MANDELLA A HAPPY MAN
Soul of the Matter, the horse who put Cigar to the test in the Dubai Cup, worked a sharp 1 1/8 miles Friday between the day's fourth and fifth races in preparation for the upcoming $1,000,000 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on August 10.
Trainer Richard Mandella expressed pleasure Saturday morning about the work, in which Soul of the Matter was clocked in 1:50 3/5 for the distance, with jockey Corey Nakatani in the irons. The splits for the work were :25 2/5 for the first quarter, :50 1/5 for the half-mile, 1:14 4/5 for 6 furlongs, 1:27 for 7 furlongs, 1:39 for the mile on the way to the final time. Soul of the Matter, owned by Burt Bacharach, galloped out 1 1/4 miles in 2:04 2/5.
"He relaxed real well the first part and he finished up well the last three- eighths [of a mile]. And he got a good mile and a quarter, so I think we're in good shape," Mandella said.
Asked about whether a 1 1/8-mile work is a little unusual, Mandella said, "When we're going to run a mile and a quarter and we've been off since March, we're going to [go that distance]. We can't go into the race needing one with Cigar. We can't get the job done [without a work like this], I know that. I don't know if anything will work, but I do know that.
"He came out of the work real good, and we're real excited," Mandella said, adding that Soul of the Matter will have at least one more work.
Mandella said that Hollywood Gold Cup winner Siphon, his other Pacific Classic prospect might work on Sunday.
In other Pacific Classic news, Helmsman worked 5 furlongs on the grass course Saturday morning in a sharp 1:01 2/5 around the dogs. Exercise rider Roman Ocequera was up for the work. The splits were :24 2/5 for the quarter and :49 2/5 for the half-mile. Trainer Wallace Dollase said he'll get another solid work before the Classic, at a mile on the main track.
Dollase says the 4-year-old El Gran Senor colt is doing very well coming up to the race. Helmsman is one of two horses still eligible to collect bonus money offered for running all three races of the MGM Grand Classic - the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic. Helmsman has 15 points and Luthier Fever has seven.
Double defending champion Tinners Way worked 7 furlongs on Thursday in 1:26 1/5 at Hollywood Park, and Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel says he seems to be very sharp as he comes up for his attempt at winning three straight Pacific Classics. And on the human side, a victory this year would make five straight Pacific Classic wins for Frankel. Prior to Tinners Way, he went to the winner's circle with Missionary Ridge and Bertrando.
Trainer Eduardo Inda, who has had Luthier Fever only about three weeks, says his trainee is still being pointed for the Pacific Classic. Inda said he'll work Luthier Fever, who finished a strong second to Mr Purple in the Santa Anita Handicap, 6 furlongs on Monday at Del Mar. Then he'll have one more work during Pacific Classic week, he said.
YOUNG TRAINER MARTIN JONES PONDERS NEXT STEP WITH AURIETTE
After Auriette finished a distant seventh in the Grade I Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park July 7, trainer Martin Jones decided that the Grade I Ramona Handicap, to be run August 3, might not be the right move for her.
But a sharp :58 4/5 work for 5 furlongs by her on Friday just might be enough to make him lean in a new direction. "We've been trying to let her tell us how she is," Jones said Saturday. "If she keeps telling us like she did yesterday, then we may run [in the Ramona]."
Other notable works on Friday: Shiney Skates, :45 2/5 and Renteria, :46 3/5, both for a half-mile; and Wende, nominated to the Ramona, 1:27 3/5 for 7 furlongs.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)