Stable Notes Del Mar, California Sunday, August 24 (Day 29)

EIGHT 2-YEAR-OLD FILLIES READY FOR DEBUTANTE COMING OUT PARTY

Career Collection, owned by Golden Eagle Farm and trained by Wallace Dollase, heads a field of eight 2-year-old fillies for today's Grade II, $250,000 Del Mar Debutante at seven furlongs over the seaside course's main track. The winner's share of the purse is $150,000.

Career Collection, who will carry high weight of 121 pounds, including meet-leading jockey Alex Solis, comes into the race off a victory in Del Mar's Grade II Sorrento Stakes, an August 6 prep for the Debutante. Packing second high weight of 119 and credentials that show a victory in Churchill Downs' Debutante Stakes is Love Lock, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has brought in Joe Bravo from the East Coast to ride.

OSUNITAS WINNER AURIETTE GIVES TRAINER JONES THAT WINNING GLOW

"We don't get this kind of win too often, so we're going to enjoy this for awhile," said trainer Martin Jones of the victory Saturday by Auriette in Del Mar's Osunitas Handicap. The 5-year-old mare bled slightly in the race, Jones said, but nothing of a serious nature. "She's done that before," the young trainer said.

Otherwise, she came out of the 1 1/16-mile turf race in good order. The winner's purse of $68,050 ran Auriette's career earnings to $671,469. Jones said he probably won't run the mare again until Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.

DEL MAR MEET WILL BE THE LAST HURRAH FOR TOM BUNN AS A TRAINER

Veteran trainer Tom Bunn plans to retire as a conditioner following the Del Mar meeting, and enter the sales ring as a bloodstock agent. And, he says, he'll be playing more golf in between sales stints.

Bunn, who took out his first license in 1961, won his first Del Mar stake last year when his Caribbean Pirate captured one division of the Oceanside Stakes on opening day. Caribbean Pirate made a dash for the wire in the Del Mar Derby but finished fifth, beaten about a length in a race that saw a four-horse blanket finish won by Rainbow Blues.

Bunn, a native Californian, began his career in the East working with steeplechase horses. His father-in-law, Ray Wolfe, operated the steeplechase section of the Camden Training Center in Camden, SC, and Bunn worked with horses owned by Marion duPont Scott. During those days, he said, he was closely associated with trainers Scotty Schulhofer and Joe Cantey.

In fact, after turning to Thoroughbred training later, Bunn handled the stakes-winning Honey Fox for Schulhofer during a sojourn to the West Coast for the filly. Honey Fox won the 1982 Ramona Handicap under Bunn's handling, but Schulhofer was the trainer of record and he was credited with the stakes victory.

Also a major winner for Bunn was Bistro Garden.

Bunn, who lives with his wife, Ruth, in Redondo Beach, said Tim Pinfield, a former Darrell Vienna assistant, will take over the training of his present string.

ANOTHER BAFFERT 2-YEAR-OLD WINS SHARPLY; OKLAHOMA STOP NEXT

Trainer Bob Baffert unleashed another impressive 2-year-old colt Saturday as Commitisize romped to an easy three-length score in Del Mar's fourth race at 5 1/2 furlongs for maidens. The Explodent colt owned by Mike Pegram went the distance in 1:03 2/5 under a hand ride from jockey Gary Stevens.

Baffert said this morning that the colt will run next in the Remington Futurity September 7 at Oklahoma City's Remington Park.

DEL MAR WILL BE KEY HOST ON AMERICA'S DAY AT THE RACES LABOR DAY

American racing fans will get a good glimpse of "where the turf meets the surf" on Labor Day, September 1, as Del Mar will serve as one of the host track's in racing pageant known as "America's Day at the Races."

The seaside track's Grade II, $300,000 Del Mar Derby for 3-year-olds on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course will be the third leg of what will be known as the Coast-to-Coast Triple, a wagering opportunity that will include the Miss Woodford Stakes at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and the Springfield Stakes from Arlington International Race Course outside of Chicago. The Triple will offer this special feature: the takeout on the Triple pool will be only 10 per cent, as opposed to the normal nearly 20 per cent on that sort of exotic wager.

Del Mar's first post time on Labor Day will be 12:30 p.m. The Del Mar Derby, to be run as the day's fourth race of the day, will have a post time of 2:20. The day's 10th and final Del Mar race will be run at 5:20.

CHANCE FOR FANS TO PICTURE THEMSELVES WITH DEL MAR'S JOCKEYS

Fans will be able to be pictured with some of the world's great jockeys during the annual Jockey Photo Days over the Labor Day weekend.

Jockeys will be available on Saturday and Sunday, August 30 and 31 and on Monday, September 1. Fans are urged to bring cameras those days for photos with their favorite riders.

The popular annual event normally draws large crowds of fans and jockeys in the Plaza de Mexico of the track's Grandstand area.

JOCKEY VALDIVIA PICKS UP AGENT FOR REMAINDER OF DEL MAR MEETING

Jose Valdivia, back to California after a couple of years on the Kentucky- Arkansas circuit, has dipped into Arizona for the agent who will handle his bookings for the remainder of the Del Mar meet in Archie Gregory.

Gregory said he's been away from racing for a while but he's now "ready to make a comeback." Gregory also noted he was last at Del Mar when he handled jockey George Estrada's book in the early 1980s. He has worked mostly at Turf Paradise in the Phoenix area during the past few years.

SHORE LINES -- Jockeys Gary Stevens and J.G. Matos each rode to the winner's circle three times Saturday to add $500 to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, through a donation by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club of $250 for each of the riding triples. The victories also ran the win number for each rider to 17 and kept them tied for fourth place in the season's rider standings. ... Laffit Pincay, Jr. rode Starduster to victory in Saturday's first race for his seventh win of the meet, putting him just five scores away from tying Bill Shoemaker's record of 889 career Del Mar victories. ... Saturday was a good day for horsemen with Del Mar connections in other racing venues, also. Jockey Kent Desormeaux won the $250,000 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park aboard Formal Gold, and Chris McCarron guided Deputy Commander, trained by the Southland's Wallace Dollase, to victory in Saratoga's $750,000 Travers Stakes, long dubbed the Midsummer Derby for 3-year-olds. But there was disappointment, too. Among those defeated in the Travers was the favorite Awesome Again, trained by Del Mar-based David Hofmans. ... Hofmans will be back at Del Mar on Monday to be the featured guest in the track's hosted Chat Room from 11 a.m. to noon on Del Mar's website. Trainer Jenine Sahadi will be the guest in Thursday's Chat Room during the same time period. ... Del Mar's leading rider to this point, Alex Solis, used wins in the day's final two races to up his victory total to 27, three ahead of Desormeaux's runner-up 24.

TODAY'S SIMULCAST STAKES -- Saratoga: Saratoga Cup Handicap (III); Arlington International Race Course: Arlington Breeders' Cup Sprint, Beverly D Stakes (I), Arlington Million (I), Secretariat Stakes (I); River Downs: Bassinet Stakes; Downs at Santa Fe: Indian Nations Cup Futurity.