The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)DOZEN 3-YEAR-OLDS SET FOR $300,000 DEL MAR DERBY ON LABOR DAY
An even dozen 3-year-olds, headed by double Del Mar stakes winner Ambivalent, are expected to go to the post Monday for the Grade II, $300,000 Del Mar Derby, the premier race for 3-year-olds during the 43-day summer meeting. The winner's share in the 52nd running of the 1 1/8-mile race on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course is $150,000.
Joining Ambivalent, who is trained by Mike Orman and won one division of Del Mar's opening-day Oceanside Stakes on July 24 and then the Grade III La Jolla Handicap August 11, are Optic Nerve, a ship-in from New York trained by Howard Tesher, and locally trained The Barking Shark, Mystic Knight, Mateo, Rainbow Blues, Caribbean Pirate, Matty G, Paranomelody, Mirobolant, Shirttail Flying and Mr. Sunsation. All but the filly Paranomelody will carry 122 pounds. She gets a three-pound weight break.
Caribbean Pirate, The Barking Shark and Matty G seem to hold some keys to the race. Caribbean Pirate won the other division of the Oceanside, before finishing third in the La Jolla. The front-running The Barking Shark finished second in Caribbean Pirate's Oceanside division and second in the La Jolla. Matty G, who was 17th in this year's Kentucky Derby, tried the grass for the first time on August 3 and was an easy winner.
Mystic Knight and Rainbow Blues bring a little mystery to the race. Mystic Knight will be making only his second start in the United States, having finished sixth in Arlington International Race Course's American Derby in his debut July 21. Rainbow Blues will do him one better, making his debut in the Del Mar Derby after winning two of 12 starts in France.
Here's the way the field will line up from the rail, with riders: Optic Nerve, Kent Desormeaux; The Barking Shark, Patrick Valenzuela; Mystic Knight, Eddie Delahoussaye; Mateo, Alex Solis; Ambivalent, Rene Douglas; Rainbow Blues, Corey Nakatani; Caribbean Pirate, Chris Antley; Matty G, Chris McCarron; Paranomelody, Gary Stevens; Mirobolant, Laffit Pincay, Jr.; Shirttail Flying, Octavio Vergara; and Mr. Sunsation, Brice Blanc.
LEG INJURY FORCES EXOTIC WOOD OUT OF SUNDAY'S CHULA VISTA 'CAP
An injury to her left foreleg, possibly a strain, according to trainer Ron Ellis, has caused multiple-stakes winner Exotic Wood to be scratched from Sunday's 26th running of the Grade II, $309,200 Chula Vista Handicap at Del Mar.
"She strained something, probably while galloping yesterday," said Ellis. "There's swelling at the ankle of the left front leg. She couldn't gallop today. We're treating her with an anti-inflammatory [medication], but because she's such a valuable filly we'll probably do x-rays and some scanning [of the area]."
A disappointed Ellis said Exotic Wood had been training very well since her victory in the Grade I Go For Wand at Saratoga July 28. "Of course, we wouldn't want to do anything that would threaten injury for the long run," Ellis said.
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.
SOLIS BOOTS HOME FIVE WINNERS; JUST MISSES TYING DEL MAR RECORD
Alex Solis, one of the most popular and talented jockeys in the Del Mar riding colony, rode five winners on Friday, just missing tying the track's record of six wins in a day established by Hall of Fame rider Bill Shoemaker in 1954 and tied by Rudy Rosales in 1969 and twice by Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay, Jr., in 1976 and 1978.
The most recent rider to have won five races in a day at the seaside course is Gary Stevens, who turned the trick August 8, 1994. Prior to that, Kent Desormeaux had a pair of quints in the 1993 season.
Solis said after the day's final race, "When I won the third race, I was in a zone. I was thinking very high; I was making sure I had my mind into it. I was thinking very high about what I was going to do in races. When you win two or three races, you're confidence level gets really high, and after the third race, I was really flying."
Along the way to his five victories, Solis won the first four races of the day: Saucy Lady B in the first, Born Optimist in the second, Rexy Sexy in the third and Raise the Prize in the fourth. His fifth win came aboard Big Sky Jim in the Warden Stakes, the day's featured eighth race. In the ninth and final race of the day, Solis was aboard longshot Nostalgiaonmymind and finished third.
Solis, a native of Panama who has been riding in Southern California since 1985, had praise for the work his agent, Scotty McClellan, does. "He does such a great job and I feel very blessed to have him," Solis said. "He takes care of me. He makes sure that all the horses I ride are good horses to ride. Working with a guy like him makes your riding job so easy because you just have to concentrate on what you have to do in the afternoon. He sets up all my work in the morning. It makes my work a lot easier."
Solis was reminded that his five wins propelled him into a contending position in the jockey standings for the season, in second place just five behind leader Corey Nakatani. "Wow, that's nice to know," he said. "I don't know how many days are left, but I hope I can give him a good run for it. He's hard to catch; he's a tough competitor." Nakatani had one winner on the day to give him 37, and Solis' five give him 32. Nakatani has been handed a five-day suspension following the disqualification of Invictus in Thursday's fifth race, but has said he will appeal the suspension, which is to begin September 6 and run through September 11, the track's final day of its 43-day season.
In the day's final race, longshot Nostalgiaonmymind got the same kind of ride his winners got, being pushed along in the stretch to finish third after a slow start. It was an example of how Solis never gives up on a horse. "I never do," he said. "I can't do that to myself. I feel that every race I ride, I have to give 100 percent. I don't want to have any doubts in my thinking [about what he should or shouldn't have done]."
Jude Feld, who trains Nostalgiaonmymind and believed the 2-year-old gelding had a good chance in the race, said this morning he tried to put Solis at ease by saying, "Don't worry about it. I've done this before." That referred to the time four years ago when Feld gave David Flores a leg up on his trainee, Slip With Me, to win the E.B. Johnson Stakes at Fairplex and give Flores his sixth win of the day to set a Fairplex record.
Solis' five victories added $1,000 to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund. The money is donated by Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for multiple wins by a rider in a day.
JACK CARAVA HAVING HIS BEST DEL MAR TRAINING MEET EVER
You won't find his biography in media guides around Southern California racetracks, but with the Del Mar meet Jack Carava is having, that may be changing before too much longer.
Carava, among the most active of claiming trainers on the Del Mar/Santa Anita/Hollywood Park circuit, has 10 victories at the seaside course. That ties him with Jenine Sahadi for third place in the trainer standings and leaves him two behind Bob Baffert and four behind the leader, Mike Mitchell. Mitchell seems headed toward his sixth Del Mar training title, which would leave him second in titles to all-time leading conditioner Farrell W. Jones, who won the crown 11 times.
Carava's showing is undergirded by the presence of a solid barn of 35 horses this summer. "I've never been down here with any kind of ammunition whatsoever," he said. "I've won three or four races down here each year but just with a small barn."
The young trainer has been on his own for four years, after getting solid grounding from his trainer/father, Mike, for whom he worked as a youngster in Northern California, and from 10 years of working with trainer Jerry Fanning, for whom he went to work right out of Arcadia High School. During his years with Fanning, he was around the likes of multiple-stakes winners Desert Wine, Top Corsage, Present Value and Akinemod.
Carava is basically a claiming trainer, but, he says, "Hopefully, I'll be able to buy some horses. The main key for me is to get a man like John Mabee [as an owner], who has sent me six or seven horses down here. That'll give me my best chance to get a good horse."
What is his philosophy and style with claiming horses? "I think it's just trying to get horses healthy and sound and happy," says Carava, who finished second to Ron McAnally in this spring's Hollywood Park trainer standings with 22 wins. "Those are just the basics you learn. You need to keep them healthy, doing well and don't overrun them; keep them fresh." Running them where they can win is the basic rule for claiming trainers. "If you have them in a spot where they won't get their head kicked in, they seem to make that step up."
His major owners are Michael and Loretta Lima, who race under Lima Family Trust. "They're people I've known all of my life," Carava said. "They gave me my first horse when I was working with Jerry [Fanning]. Jerry was always nice enough to let me train a couple of horses on the side."
ODDS ARE DAILY RACING FORM BALLOON WILL CAUSE STIR AT DEL MAR
The Daily Racing Form balloon, in the shape of a rolled-up newspaper, will be a presence at Del Mar race track for the next three days.
The balloon will be tethered in the infield beginning with the first race and will go aloft each evening following the final race. Estimated time of lift-off is 6:15, said balloon pilot Peter Mason. The balloon won't be available for public rides since it's not licensed as a public conveyance, but will be used to take media or some VIPs on a flight.
The balloon is 100 feet tall and it can carry three passengers.
COURT ORDERS STAY OF FIVE-DAY SUSPENSION FOR PAT VALENZUELA
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela has been given a court-ordered stay of a five-day suspension issued by the stewards as a result of the disqualification of his mount, Steel Rulr, in the seventh race on Wednesday, August 28. The horse was disqualified from third to fifth when the stewards judged he crossed over without sufficient clearance and caused interference. The suspension was to run September 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
SHORE LINES: San Diego Chargers fans will be able to enjoy the races at Del Mar on Sunday and still not miss a down of the Chargers' game against the Seattle Seahawks starting at 1 p.m. The sold-out game at Jack Murphy Stadium will be available for viewing on television monitors throughout the track .... Monday's Del Mar card will offer 10 races .... Notable works this morning: 3 furlongs - Silver Charm, :35; The Barking Shark, :36 4/5; 4 furlongs - Deeds Not Words, :49 2/5; Lit de Justice, :48 3/5; 5 furlongs - Boncozy, 1:00 2/5; Patrick, :58 2/5; Real Connection, :59 4/5; Siphon, 1:01; Wrightwood, :59 1/5; 7 furlongs - Gentlemen, 1:28 3/5; Windsharp, 1:25 1/5.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)