DEL MAR, Calif. – Two of the top contenders for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic turned in workouts at Del Mar on Monday that indicated both are coming up to the Aug. 19 race in ideal condition.
Accelerate, the upset winner over Arrogate in the San Diego Handicap in his last start, worked an easy five furlongs in 1:01.20 under jockey Victor Espinoza. About 75 minutes later, Collected continued his dazzling series of drills here with a one-mile work in 1:37.40 under Martin Garcia.
DEL MAR, Calif. – It’s rare to see a horse win by 17 1/2 lengths going just 5 1/2 furlongs, and rarer still to see a horse win a maiden-claiming race at Canterbury Park and then show up at Del Mar, but the filly Vallestina, who runs in race 6 on Wednesday, ticks both of those boxes.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Win the Space, who was second and third in Grade 1 races last year, may run out of time preparing for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 19.
Unraced since being eased in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita last November, Win the Space has worked steadily in recent weeks, but trainer George Papaprodromou said the $1 million Pacific Classic may be too demanding for a first race of the season.
“I don’t know if we’ll be ready,” Papaprodromou said Sunday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Mike Smith, who turns 52 on Thursday, will be honored with the 2017 Laffit Pincay Jr. Award for meritorious service to racing in a ceremony at Del Mar on Aug. 20.
Pincay will present the award to Smith. A fundraiser honoring Smith on behalf of the Winners Foundation will be held at Del Mar on Aug. 19.
Through Sunday, Smith was the third-leading rider in the nation in mount earnings with more than $14.9 million. This year, the 2016 champions Arrogate and Songbird have been two of his leading mounts.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The winners in the first round of Florida Sire Stakes events for juveniles can be expected to face some of the same horses who chased them home Saturday at Gulfstream.
Go Astray was a 10-1 winner of the fillies division, the $100,000 Desert Vixen, while the heavily favored runner-up, Awesome Mass, was compromised after grabbing a front quarter at the start of the six-furlong race.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gunnevera was assigned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for his five-length victory Sunday in the Tangelo Stakes at Gulfstream Park, although the number seems largely irrelevant given that it came in what was little more than a paid public workout against four overmatched 3-year-olds.
What is more important is that the 1 1/16-mile Tangelo served its purpose as a bridge between the May 20 Preakness, in which Gunnevera ran fifth, and the Aug. 26 Travers at Saratoga, a divisional showdown in which the chestnut colt will be one of a multitude of viable contenders.
Brad McKinzie, a racing executive who played a vital role in the expansion of Los Alamitos in recent years, died after a battle with cancer Sunday afternoon, according to his friends and Los Alamitos officials.
McKinzie was 62 and had been in declining health in recent months.
“I don’t know anyone that met him that didn’t think he was one of the best guys they ever met,” California Horse Racing Board executive director Rick Baedeker said on Sunday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – As an actor for a decade, Maria Falgione saw her name on playbills for Las Vegas stage shows and in credits of television programs and films.
Seeing it for the first time as a jockey on the overnight for Wednesday’s eighth race at Del Mar was a different experience.
“It was surreal,” she said over the weekend.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bolt d’Oro was standing in his stall in the Del Mar stables on Sunday morning when his biggest fan and admirer began praising the 2-year-old colt.
“He’s a dream,” said owner and trainer Mick Ruis. “He can take you places.”
The previous day, Bolt d’Oro won his debut in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs, overcoming a bump with a rival after the start to win by 2 1/4 lengths as the 4-5 favorite.
“I’m glad I got that done,” Ruis said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The first time Kentucky owner and breeder Don Robinson visited Del Mar he was a high school graduate working in the stables in the mid-1960s.
“We swam horses in the surf,” he recalled Saturday. “I was here for a short time and it was unforgettable.”
For Robinson, so was Saturday afternoon at Del Mar. Cambodia, a 5-year-old mare he bred and owns, won the most prestigious race of her career in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares on turf.
“It’s the biggest thrill of my life,” he said in the winner’s circle.
