The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)ALPRIDE LEADS FIELD OF SIX DISTAFFERS IN RAMONA 'CAP AT DEL MAR
Six fillies and mares are expected to go postward Saturday in the 39th edition of the Grade I Ramona Handicap, Del Mar's premier race for distaff turf runners. If all six start, the purse will be $313,500, with $193,500 going to the winner. For every scratch, subtract $1,500 from each figure.
Alpride, owned by Jenny Craig and trained and ridden by Hall of Famers Ron McAnally and Chris McCarron, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/8-mile test on the seaside track's Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
A NEW PLAYER MAY TACKLE CIGAR IN DEL MAR'S PACIFIC CLASSIC
Trainer Richard Mandella, who in Soul of the Matter has the horse that has given Cigar his sternest test during his streak of 16 consecutive victories and in Siphon the winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup, may have yet another candidate to test the 1995 Horse of the Year in the $1,000,000 Pacific Classic August 10 at Del Mar.
Mandella said Saturday morning that Dare and Go, who finished fifth in the Gold Cup before losing the Grade II Bel Air Handicap on July 14 by a head to Cleante, has a "small chance" to run in the Pacific Classic. "He's doing fine," Mandella said. "He ran twice at Hollywood Park so he doesn't need a lot of work. We won't decide until Wednesday [entry day]."
The trainer said that if the 5-year-old son of Alydar runs, Alex Solis has the call to ride. Dare and Go worked 5 furlongs in 1:01 on Wednesday at Del Mar.
Soul of the Matter galloped a mile and a quarter Saturday morning and Siphon, who worked a slow mile Friday, walked the barn area, Mandella said.
Luthier Fever, who finished second in the Santa Anita Handicap, the first of the three races making up the MGM Grand Classic Crown, galloped a mile and a half Saturday in preparation for a 5-furlong work Sunday morning, said trainer Eduardo Inda. Jockey Brice Blanc, who has the call for the Pacific Classic, will be in the irons for the work. Luthier Fever finished last in the Gold Cup, the second leg of the MGM series that ends with the Pacific Classic.
Another possible worker for Sunday is Helmsman, although the Wallace Dollase barn said Saturday that the work may be moved to Monday. Helmsman along with Luthier Fever are the only ones in the prospective field eligible for the MGM Grand participation bonus, which totals $500,000. Helmsman finished fourth in the Santa Anita Handicap and third in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
Tinners Way, who has won the past two Pacific Classics and could make some history of his own if he were to win the race for the third straight time, galloped a mile Saturday morning. A third Pacific Classic victory would make Tinners Way the first Thoroughbred ever to win the same million-dollar race three times.
Dramatic Gold, who continues to be a possible for the Pacific Classic, jogged a mile and galloped a mile at Del Mar Saturday. Chris Antley is scheduled to ride if the Golden Eagle Farm's bay gelding is entered.
MCCARRON SITS ONE VICTORY AWAY FROM 100 DEL MAR STAKES WINS
Hall of Fame rider Chris McCarron, who took over the lead in Del Mar stakes victories from retired Bill Shoemaker last summer, is one stakes victory away from the century mark at the seaside course.
McCarron chalked up his 99th stakes victory Friday with a 1 1/4-length victory aboard Admise in the Honey Fox Handicap, and rides the morning-line favorite Alpride in Saturday's Ramona Handicap for a chance at 100.
Friday's victory ran McCarron's lifetime figures to 6,360 wins, 5,042 seconds and 4,181 thirds from 30,425 mounts. His lifetime purse earnings of $196,876,896 are the most ever. He passed Laffit Pincay Jr.'s record earnings earlier in the year. Pincay, another Hall of Famer riding at Del Mar, has lifetime earnings of $192,882,112.
Pincay has a special goal of his own in focus - the all-time number of victories, held by Shoemaker at 8,833. Pincay, including a victory in Friday's fourth race, has 8,451 lifetime wins.
CBS TO RERUN "THE MAN FROM MOBRIDGE," THE STORY OF BILL MOTT
A profile of trainer Bill Mott, "The Man from Mobridge," which first aired in February, will be re-broadcast on CBS News' "Sunday Morning" show Sunday, six days before the Mott trainee, Cigar, tries to win his 17th straight race in Del Mar's $1,000,000 Pacific Classic on Saturday, August 10. A 17th victory would establish a modern-day record for consecutive victories by a Thoroughbred horse.
The feature includes footage of Mott and Cigar in Florida during the winter as well as footage of Mott's hometown of Mobridge, S.D. The program airs at 8 a.m.
YOUNG RIDER PAUL TOSCANO CHALKS UP LONGSHOT DOUBLE ON FRIDAY
A happy Paul Toscano was still excited Saturday morning about his two victories Friday, the first two-win day for him at Del Mar.
The 23-year-old rider, who came to California a couple of years ago after riding the New York-New Jersey circuit, believes he's getting back into the groove that brought him success on the East Coast. Following a productive apprenticeship in New York, Toscano wound up on the shelf for a time following an automobile accident, and, he said, he had a hard time getting back into a winning mode.
"I decided I just needed to get away from all of it back there, and find a new start out here," Toscano said, adding that he found success at Northern California tracks, including those on the fair circuit. Then he decided to take a crack at the Southern California scene and its jockey colony that's rated as the best in the country. He rode late in last summer's Del Mar meet and has stayed on the circuit.
He said he's hoping his wins at Del Mar will get him more rides. He said he's confident he can ride well enough to get the job done. In one of his Friday victories, he battled head and head with veteran Patrick Valenzuela, the meet's second leading rider, for about a half-mile before winning by a head with Island Caper in the sixth race. The winner paid $62.40. His winner in the eighth race was Please Pause Paul, which paid $47.60.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)