The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)SEVEN GRASS SPECIALISTS SET FOR SATURDAY'S DEL MAR HANDICAP
Seven turf runners, including millionaire Talloires and near-millionaire Urgent Request, are expected to start Saturday in the 57th running of the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Handicap to be run at 1 3/8 miles on the seaside track's Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
The winner's share in the guaranteed purse is $150,000.
Talloires, owned by Allred, Hubbard and Haras de Mezeray and trained by Richard Mandella, will carry high weight of 119 pounds, spotting his foes from two to six pounds. Regular rider Kent Desormeaux gets the call again.
Talloires, a son of Trempolino, has earned $1.1 million on five wins, six seconds and two thirds in 19 lifetime starts. He's one-for-one this year, having captured the Caesars Place Turf Championship Handicap at Hollywood Park July 21.
Urgent Request, who has earnings of $951,650, including the winner's share in the 1995 Santa Anita Handicap, has been assigned 116 pounds and will be ridden by Chris Antley. The Del Mar Handicap will be Urgent Request's first start since the March 21, Grade I San Luis Rey Handicap at Santa Anita.
Along with Urgent Request, Talloires will face Bon Point, 117, with Eddie Delahoussaye aboard; Party Season, 117, Corey Nakatani; Dernier Empereur, 116, Patrick Valenzuela; Draco, 113, Alex Solis; and Ianomami, 113, Martin Pedroza.
The Del Mar Handicap will be the first of three Grade II stakes scheduled for Del Mar's Labor Day weekend, the season's penultimate weekend of racing before the end of the 43-day meet on September 11. On Sunday, fillies and mares will run in the $300,000-added Chula Vista Handicap, and on Monday, 3-year-olds will tackle the $300,000 Del Mar Derby.
FANS GET THEIR CHANCES THIS WEEKEND TO PHOTOGRAPH JOCKEYS
Del Mar's third annual Jockey Photo Days are scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday in the Plaza de Mexico area of the grandstand, next to the plaza's big fountain. The photo session will be held from noon to 1 p.m. each day.
Here's what the jockey lineup will be for the weekend:
Saturday: Corey Black, Rene Douglas, Victor Espinoza, Corey Nakatani, Martin Pedroza, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Alex Solis and Octavio Vergara.
Sunday: Chris Antley, John Atherton, Paul Atkinson, Brice Blanc, Eddie Delahoussaye, Kent Desormeaux, Paul Toscano and Fernando Valenzuela.
Monday: G.F. Almeida, Omar Berrio, David Flores, Michael Hunter, Chris McCarron, Joy Scott, Patrick Valenzuela.
SEPTEMBER "THOROUGHBRED WORLD" TO FEATURE ACTION AT DEL MAR
In September, "Thoroughbred World," Prime Sports' monthly horse-racing television magazine, will have a distinct Del Mar flavor. The upcoming issue premieres on September 6 at 3:30 p.m. and is repeated the following Friday, September 13 at 2:30 p.m.
Among the features will be Y Camp Del Mar, the joint effort by the YMCA and Del Mar to give children a chance to have a day-camp experience while their parents enjoy the races.
Also, there will be the story of Charles Stegall, a lifelong racing fan who fulfilled his life's desire of announcing a horse race, thanks to a special Del Mar program in 1993. At that time, the track offered, for $25, a person the chance to call a race from a special booth just for fun.
Stegall's dream was enhanced further by the fact he was holding a winning exacta ticket on the race he had just called. Unfortunately, moments after calling the race, he died in the booth. Acting on a request from Stegall's daughter, Del Mar honored the man further by naming a race after him on August 12 this year. About 30 members of the Stegall family were present for the race.
STEADY SEEMS TO BE THE WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES MARTIN PEDROZA
When one starts looking for the name Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) Pedroza in the jockey standings at any of the Southern California racetracks, almost without fail it pops up in the mid- to lower-level of the track's Top Ten. This summer is no different - he's tied currently for seventh in the Del Mar standings with Chris Antley.
Pedroza's 15 victories here so far equals his number for all of the 1995 meet. Pedroza, a native of Panama City, Panama, credits his success to hard work and good connections with good trainers and owners. He gives agent Richie Silverstein, who has booked Pedroza's business for 11 of the 14 years the rider has been on the Southern California circuit, a goodly share of the credit, too. "I work very hard and he works very hard. We work as a team," Pedroza says.
Like so many Panamanian riders in the United States, Pedroza, who was born July 20, 1965, went through the famed jockey school in Panama City. But unlike many who rode in Panama and then Florida before making their way west, Pedroza came right to Southern California. He knew even then it was the toughest riding colony in the U.S., but that only served to encourage him more.
Has he tried to model himself after anyone in particular? "Always I look up to Laffit Pincay [Jr.] and Angel Cordero. Laffit Pincay is like THE man in my country and everywhere. People look up to him, especially a young rider. I want to someday be as good as him." Pincay is history's second-leading winner of Thoroughbred races, and he continues to pursue the record of 8,833 victories held by the retired Bill Shoemaker. Through yesterday's races, Pincay had 8,460 wins.
At present, Pedroza rides for a wide range of trainers on the grounds, including Bob Baffert, Jenine Sahadi and Jack Carava, all of whom are near the top in the trainer standings. In the past, he was a frequent rider for the successful Brian Mayberry barn.
Pedroza has worked hard to change his image among trainers as merely a speed rider. "Everybody used to call me a speed rider, and I hated it," Pedroza said. "If you have a speed horse, you go with speed. If you have a horse that comes from the back, I can do that. And I think I have proved that."
Just what does Pedroza bring to his mounts? "I consider myself very, very athletic and I'm very strong," he said. "I can ride a horse all the way around. I am a very, very strong rider." And his goal is always to be sitting in the Top Ten of the rider standings at all race meetings. "I work very hard to be what I am," he said. "And if things aren't happening, I work even harder."
TURF WRITER, JOCKEY'S AGENT, TRAINER TO SHARE HANDICAPPING TIPS
Racing fans coming to Del Mar this weekend will get insights into handicapping from a local turf writer, a successful jockey's agent and a veteran trainer on the Southern California circuit during the seaside track's regular handicapping seminars held each weekend during the 43-day meeting. Because of Labor Day on Monday, a third session has been added this week.
The seminars are held from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. in the area known as the Seaside Terrace near the head of the stretch.
On Saturday, Jeff Nahill, turf writer for the North County Times, will share his handicapping tips and thoughts on the day's program. Bob Meldahl, agent for jockeys Corey Nakatani, the leading rider at the meeting, and Laffit Pincay, Jr., second leading rider lifetime behind the retired Bill Shoemaker, will handle Sunday's seminar, and trainer John Sadler will be the guest on Monday.
Jack Minger of the track's media department is the host.
SHORE LINES: Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye rode three winners on Wednesday to give him 19 so far for the meeting and move him into a tie for fifth in the jockey standings with Kent Desormeaux .... A training double on Thursday by Bob Baffert moved him into second place in the standings with 12 wins. Mike Mitchell, five-time training champ at Del Mar, leads with 13 .... The mare Windsharp, who had been pointed for Saturday's Del Mar Handicap, will run instead in two races in Canada with an eye to a third. The Wallace Dollase trainee is scheduled to run in the $100,000-added Jockey Club Cup Handicap on September 8, with a start in the $1-million Canadian International Stakes on September 29. The long-term goal is the $2-million Breeders' Cup Turf on September 26. All three races will be run at Woodbine near Toronto, Ont., Canada .... Notable workouts: 4 furlongs - Miss L Attack, :49 4/5; Fastness, :50 3/5; 5 furlongs - Different, :58 4/5; Cat's Cradle, :59 3/5; Jewel Princess, 1:00 3/5; turf works - Mirobolant, 1:00 4/5 for 5 furlongs; Yearly Tour, 1:29 4/5 for 7 furlongs.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)