DEL MAR, Calif. – Buetane became the latest 2-year-old colt to watch from trainer Bob Baffert’s stable after an exciting win in a maiden race Sunday at Del Mar in his first start.
In a way, it was eventful introduction to racing for Buetane, who was ridden by Juan Hernandez.
Buetane stalked early leader Cactus Charlie before taking the lead approaching the quarter pole. Buetane pulled clear of five rivals through the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths.
Mike Pegram, whose prominent horses have won the Kentucky Derby and scores of stakes in Southern California in the last 30 years, will receive the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award at De Mar on Aug. 10, the track announced on Friday.
The award goes to racing participants who have displayed “integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction,” Del Mar said in a statement.
Barnes, a Grade 2 stakes winner in January who has not raced since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April, worked six furlongs in 1:12 at Del Mar on Friday in preparation for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23.
The $500,000 Jerkens is run at seven furlongs and is one of the nation’s leading sprints for 3-year-olds.
Barnes has had a series of fast works in recent weeks, including five furlongs in 59 seconds at Del Mar on July 26.
The 2-year-old Medici will start for the first time in what seems to be a deep maiden race at six furlongs at Del Mar on Sunday.
Medici, trained by Richard Mandella for owners and breeders Ramona and Perry Bass, has the credentials to win, provided he can beat two well-regarded runners trained by Bob Baffert in Buetane and Falcon Jet as well as three other rivals.
Mandella has seen enough from Medici in recent weeks to expect a winning performance.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The highly anticipated debut of the 2-year-old colt Schwarzenegger will have to wait.
Listed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in Friday’s sixth race, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden turf affair, Schwarzenegger was scratched after he hit himself in a front ankle while in his stall Friday morning, according to trainer Wesley Ward.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mystik Dan, the 2024 Kentucky Derby winner, took his first steps to what is expected to be a surface switch to turf by working five furlongs in 1:02.70 Friday morning over the Oklahoma turf course.
With Luis Rivera Jr. up, Mystik Dan went off easy in 13.60 seconds, then got his last quarter in 23.90 over a drying out turf surface.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Bentornato, who has not started since finishing second, beaten a half-length by the 2024 Eclipse Award-winning Straight No Chaser in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, had clockers checking their watches after working four furlongs in 45.09 seconds over a main track that had been back-raked and was listed as good shortly after the second renovation break Friday at Saratoga.
Del Mar stewards have suspended Vincent Cheminaud and Mirco Demuro for riding infractions earlier this month.
Cheminaud, who rode the opening weekend at Del Mar, was cited for “crossing over without sufficient clearance soon after the start, causing interference” aboard Itzel in the fourth race on July 18, the first day of the season.
Itzel was disqualified from fourth to 10th. Cheminaud, who is currently riding at Colonial Downs in Virginia, is suspended Saturday and Sunday and Thursday, Aug. 7.
Check’s On the Way will have his stakes debut in Friday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar and the gelding could be on a path to the winner’s circle from trainer Simon Callaghan’s perspective.
Check’s On the Way has won three of six starts this year, with all the wins in sprints. Those results have left Callaghan confident of a strong performance by Check’s On the Way from off the pace in the Real Good Deal, run at seven furlongs for California-bred 3-year-olds.
It was the claiming gamble of the year in California.
On May 11 at Santa Anita, owner Les Blake and trainer Jeff Mullins claimed the 8-year-old Lammas for $80,000 from a one-mile allowance race on turf. Lammas finished fourth that day after a wide trip.
On Saturday, Lammas has his first start for Blake and Mullins in an allowance race at 1 3/8 miles on turf in which veteran gelding is eligible to be claimed for $100,000.
Lammas, a five-time stakes winner, will start at 1 3/8 miles on turf for the first time. He drew the outside post in a field of eight.
