The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)SAN DIEGO, SAN CLEMENTE HEADLINE SATURDAY'S DEL MAR CARD
A field of nine, headed by highweight Northern Afleet, will contest the 56th running of the Grade III, $150,000-added San Diego Handicap, and 10 3-year-old fillies will battle in the Grade II, $100,000-added San Clemente Handicap as Del Mar offers patrons a stakes doubleheader on Saturday.
If all nine start in the 1 1/16-mile San Diego, which will be run as the day's eighth race, the gross purse will be $166,500, with the winner's share being $106,500. If 10 start in the San Clemente, which will be run as the fifth race, the gross purse will be $106,610, with $66,610 going to the winner.
CTBA STAKES WINNER RATTLE MY NERVES COMES OUT OF RACE FINE
Rattle My Nerves, who streaked down the stretch to overtake leader Czarina and win the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Stakes by a neck on Friday, came out of the race in good order, according to Isidro Paez, who grooms the 2-year-old filly for trainer Steven Young. Young returned to his Hollywood Park base following the race.
"She ate well, and came out of the race good," Paez said Saturday morning, adding, "We hope she'll stay good for the next race." Young had indicated the Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Debutante on August 24 could be her next start.
A couple of other impressive winners on the day -- Best Star and Miss Universal -- seem to be heading toward other important dates. Trainer Bob Baffert was somewhat noncommittal on Best Star while saying that the undefeated 3-year-old son of Seattle Slew owned by Golden Eagle Farm would continue to run at Del Mar. Trainer Ben Cecil didn't hesitate about saying Miss Universal, who was pinched back at the start and was caught in close quarters at the three-eighths pole before blowing by the field to win the one-mile sixth race on the grass, would run next in the $55,000 Street Dancer, an overnight stakes, on Thursday, August 21.
YOUNG WOMAN TRAINER BRINGS IN COUNTRY SINGER STRAIT'S STABLE
Thoroughbred horses belonging to celebrities is nothing new in Southern California, but this season at Del Mar adds the name of country and western superstar George Strait to that roster of celebrities that goes all the way back to the seaside course's co-founders, Bing Crosby and Pat O'Brien.
Add the facts that the trainer is a slender, attractive blonde named Michelle Mullins and that the owner is very likely to be here to watch his horses run, and you have the makings of star-quality activity where the turf meets the surf.
For Mullins, who turned 30 last Saturday, this is her first opportunity to train at Del Mar. "I came here as a spectator four or five years ago," she said, "and I really liked the atmosphere and the scene. Obviously, this is a nice meet and, hopefully, I have a couple of horses that can compete here." Mullins, who has been training for 2 1/2 years, has seven horses in her barn.
She comes into the Del Mar meet from Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, where she posted four victories. The major horse in the barn might be 2-year-old Berry Blvd., who is stakes-placed in Canada, Mullins said. She expects him to run in an allowance race here within a week. He worked five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 Friday over Del Mar's main track. Mullins is also high on an unnamed 2-year-old by Great Above, "which is one of the reasons I came to California."
Of Strait's possible appearance when his horses run, Mullins said, "He enjoys the races, he and his wife and his son. They like to get away, and they like to be involved. He'll be here when the horses run, unless he has some other conflict."
Though Mullins, who is a native of Lexington, KY, has only been training a short time, she has Thoroughbred credentials. "I galloped my way through college (University of Kentucky, where she majored in biology) and then did bloodstock work for awhile."
DEL MAR TO OBSERVE FIRST OF THE SEASONS "FIVE STAR MONDAYS"
The first of the Del Mar season's "Five Star Mondays," a fan-friendly promotion by the track and the San Diego-area Carl's Jr. restaurants comes up this Monday.
Fans can visit any of the 43 Carl's Jr. area outlets and receive a coupon good for five items at the track for only $5. The items consist of admission to the track (a $3 value), a program ($1.75), a seat ($4), a hot dog ($2.25) and a small drink or beer ($2), for a total value package of $13. The offer is good for all seven Mondays of the meeting, including Labor Day.
The promotion got off to an excellent start last year when nearly 9,000 fans -- many of whom were first-time racegoers -- took advantage of the coupon offer.
SHORE LINES -- Funeral mass for Louis H. Eilken, who died last Sunday morning, will be celebrated Tuesday, July 29, at 11:30 a.m. at St. Dorothy's
Catholic Church, 241 South Valley Center Avenue in Glendora. Eilken, 82,
died at Glendora Presbyterian Hospital after a long illness. Eilken was one of
Thoroughbred racing's most respected officials prior to his retirement in the
early 1990s. ... Top handicapper James Quinn will be signing copies of his
book On Track/Off Track: Playing the Races in Troubled Times on Sunday
from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Grandstand Paddock area.
TODAY'S SIMULCASTS: Test at Saratoga; DRC Breeders' Cup at
Ladbroke DRC; Salvatore Mile Handicap at Monmouth Park; Mid-South
Futurity at Lone Star Park.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)