DEL MAR STABLE NOTES
Monday, July 29, 1996
RED, RENTERIA HEAD FIELD OF 10 CAL-BREDS IN GRADUATION STAKES
Red and Renteria, both of whom have finished right behind what may be the best 2-year-old male in the West, Swiss Yodeler, head a field of 10 Cal-Bred males for the 45th running of the Graduation Stakes Wednesday at Del Mar. If all 10 start, the purse will be $106,600, with the winner's portion being $66,600.
Actually Renterria, trained by Jerry Dutton, has finished behind Swiss Yodeler twice. He was sixth after a rough trip in Hollywood Park's Westchester Stakes on May 27, and then second to the "Yodeler" in Hollywood's June 27 Haggin Stakes.
Red was a fast-closing second, beaten a head by Swiss Yodeler in the Hollywood Futurity on July 21. Trainer Henry Moreno said he was a bit concerned about running Red back so soon after the Futurity, but he was impressed with how well the colt came out of the race and decided to chance it.
Besides, he said, if Red comes out of this race in good order, he'll have nearly six weeks before the September 11 Del Mar Futurity, which is on Moreno's tentative calendar for the colt. Dutton says the Futurity is on Renteria's agenda, too.
Also scheduled for the Graduation Stakes are Head Master, All a Con, I Can Do, Goal Tender, Golden Bronze, Ex Gendarme, Bagshot and Tequila Gold.
ROYAL CHARIOT'S RETURN, MEGAN'S INTERCO HEADLINE TESTY WICKERR
A very competitive seven-horse Wickerr Stakes will offer Wednesday Del Mar patrons not only a second stakes race on the card but also a chance to see the always-tough Megan's Interco do battle with the equally talented Royal Chariot, who used a win in last year's Wickerr as a launching pad to victory in the Del Mar Handicap. The race will be run at a mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course, and if all seven start, the purse will be worth $71,425, with $43,425 going to the winner.
Both are coming off winning efforts, but Royal Chariot's came Dec. 10 in the Grade I Hollywood Turf Cup. Royal Chariot's trainer, Eddie Gregson, said he's expecting the Wickerr to be a conditioner for the 6-year-old gelded son of Strawberry Road. That's not to say he wouldn't take a win, but, he said, "He's been ready to run for a month, so this is a conditioning thing as much as for winning. I want him to run well and come out of the race well." Gregson said his next target is the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Handicap (August 31) again.
Megan's Interco comes into the race with a win in the Super Diamond Stakes under his belt. That victory came at Hollywood Park June 30 in the year's first outing for the 7-year-old gelded son of Interco. Megan's Interco is trained by Jenine Sahadi, whose Lit de Justice scored a smashing victory in Sunday's Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap.
Helping to make the Wickerr field contentious will be Ranger, Abre Alas, Riton, Wavy Run and Criollito, who will be making his United States grass debut.
"THE STEELY DAMNED" OPENS "JAZZ AT DEL MAR" SEASON WEDNESDAY
For the third straight year, "The Steely Damned," an all-star band made up mostly of San Diego-area musicians, opens the season's "Jazz at Del Mar Presented by Mercedes-Benz" Wednesday following the races in the track's Plaza de Mexico, near the main gate.
"The Steely Damned," under the leadership of Bob Tedde, has drawn raves the past two seasons for its interpretations and renditions of the songs of the legendary rock group Steely Dan.
The popular series of six jazz performances on Wednesday evenings, now in its sixth season, is offered under the auspices of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in conjunction with Radio Station KIFM.
OLDTIMER "COTTON" TINSLEY OBJECT OF HUZZAHS AFTER SECOND WIN
J.E. "Cotton" Tinsley Jr., not exactly a household name among horse trainers these days, is having early success this season at Del Mar and is enjoying, in his own quiet way, the attention that success has brought him in the track's barn area.
Tinsley was basking in the afterglow Monday morning of his second victory of the five-day-old meet on Sunday. The meet opened last Wednesday and Tinsley chalked up his first win on Thursday when the 3-year-old filly Criso Como won a race for $25,000 claimers and paid $143. His Granja Realeza, a 2-year-old California- bred filly, drew more respect on Sunday and rewarded her backers with $14.20 as she led most of the way and won easily by 2 1/4 lengths.
In a jocular salute to Tinsley's success, fellow trainer Art Sherman hollered out to the ultra-slender, mild-mannered Tinsley: "If you keep winning, I'm gonna come over and raid your feed supply."
The 68-year-old Tinsley has been coming to Del Mar for nearly 20 years, but he's never burned up the trainer standings. Even so, he's been well connected in his career. For example, he galloped horses and then trained for 20 years for Fred W. Hooper, who won the 1945 Kentucky Derby with Hoop Jr., and still has a winning stable at age 98. His Diplomatic Jet is one of the better grass runners in the country this year and has a victory in the Early Times Manhattan Stakes to show for it.
SHORE LINES: Trainer Jenine Sahadi said her Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap champion Lit de Justice came out of Sunday's race in good order, and now will be pointed toward the Grade III, $100,000-added Pat O'Brien Handicap at 7 furlongs on August 17. Lit de Justice won that race last year .... Jockey Octavio Vergara, who suffered a hairline fracture of his right knee when his mount in Friday's eighth race acted up in the gate, is expected to be out of action for two to three weeks. Despite the gate mishap, Vergara rode Crystal Bay to a second-place finish in the race .... Trainer David Hofmans said Monday that Dramatic Gold, a potential contender in Del Mar's $1,000,000, Grade I Pacific Classic on Saturday, August 10, will work over the main track Wednesday. Hofmans said the work would be somewhere between 5 and 7 furlongs .... A happy Ron Ellis reported that Exotic Wood, winner of Sunday's Grade I Go for Wand Stakes at Saratoga, came out of the race well and will ship back to California Tuesday. Ellis said Exotic Wood is a candidate for Del Mar's Grade II, $300,000-added Chula Vista Handicap on September 1, with the Breeders' Cup Distaff a long-term goal.
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