DEL MAR DAILY NOTEBOOK
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2005
by Brian P. Turner
A talented field of 11 two-year-old fillies, including one coupled entry,
went to the post for Saturday’s 55th running of the Del Mar Debutante (G1).
Contested at seven furlongs over the main track, the Debutante brought together
a group of proven stakes performers and combined them with some very promising
young maiden winners for what proved to be an interesting affair.
The Jeff Mullins-trained WILD FIT (Wild Wonder) was sent to the gate as the
betting public’s favorite despite the fact that she only had a maiden win to her
credit. What made her previous victory stand out, though, was the way in which
she won as she rallied from seven lengths off the pace and flew by the field in
the stretch drive to hit the finish line four lengths in front.
When the field left the gate in the Debutante, Wild Fit quickly dropped back
and was content to lay off the lead early through opening fractions of :21 3/5
and :44 1/5. Once the field approached the turn, the gray began to make her move
but was confronted with quite a bit of traffic. Nothing really opened up for her
on the inside all the way through the turn, which forced jockey Alex Solis to
take her way wide. This had no impact on the talented filly whatsoever as she
switched leads professionally and, just as she did in her debut, unleashed a
tremendous turn of foot through the stretch drive to engulf the field before
hitting the wire two lengths in front.
Mystery Girl (Stormy Atlantic) put in a solid effort for trainer Christopher
Paasch to pick up the place, two lengths clear of River’s Prayer (Devon Lane) in
third.
After the race, trainer Jeff Mullins indicated the Wild Fit would definitely
be heading for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on October 29 but did not
rule out the possibility of a prep race between now and then.
There were six sprints contested on the main track Saturday and the Del Mar
strip played pretty fair as horses on or near the pace won three and horses
coming from off the pace won three. The lone route on the day was won in
gate-to-wire fashion. In addition, there were three turf routes on the day and
horses on or near the pace won all of them.
Victor Espinoza picked up two wins on the day to extend his lead in the
jockey standings and now has 41 for the meet. Garrett Gomez went winless on the
day but still remains in second with 38 while Patrick Valenzuela, who rode two
winners on the day as well, is still in third with 31 winners thus far.
As for the trainers, Mullins only picked up one win on the day but it was a
big one. He still leads the way in the standings with 18 for the meet. Bob
Baffert and Doug O’Neill picked up one winner each and remain in a tie for
second with 16 winners apiece.
Horses to Watch
2ND – TOUGH GAME (Mr. Greeley) reeled off his second win in a row in this
eight-furlong claiming event and did so in impressive fashion. Once the gate
sprang open, the six-year-old horse bounded to the lead and guided the field
through early fractions of :22 4/5 and :45 4/5 before opening up in the stretch
drive to hit the wire three lengths in front of his rivals. The bay was claimed
out of the affair and will be making his next start for trainer John Martin.
8TH – Wild Fit continues to impress and has the appearance of one that could
turn into a very special stakes horse.
9TH – ESTATE COLLECTION (Souvenir Copy) ran his career record to a perfect
two for two in this starter allowance event. The dark bay vied for the lead
through early fractions of :21 3/5 and :43 4/5 before taking command at the top
of the stretch and opening up through the lane to hit the finish line five
lengths in front.
Tomorrow’s Outlook – Sunday, August 28
A field of 12, including two who are also eligible, is slated to go to the
post for Sunday’s Del Mar H. (G2) for three-year-olds and up going 11 furlongs
on the grass. There should be several in this field that will be taking the
betting public’s money including the Bobby Frankel-trained EXTERIOR (Distant
View), who will be returning to Southern California after a brief two-race East
Coast excursion where he ran respectably in both the United Nations H. (G1) at
Monmouth and the Bowling Green H. (G2) at Belmont. The knock against this horse
would be that though he always performs well, he has not been to the winner’s
circle since capturing an allowance event back in March.
ALWAYS FIRST (GB) (Barathea [Ire]) is a gradually improving sort who is
coming off of a nice victory in the Sunset Breeders’ Cup H. (G2) at Hollywood
where he rallied from 13 lengths off the pace to pick up the victory by three
parts of a length. RUNAWAY DANCER (Runaway Groom) will be looking to turn the
tables on Always First as he was the second-place finisher in the Sunset. The
gray has shown solid form in all three of his races this year and he is a
perfect two for two at Del Mar and also at the distance.
It would also be wise to keep an eye on the old gelding SARAFAN (Lear Fan).
Though his best days are behind him, the eight-year-old loves Del Mar (7-4-2-0)
and the 1 3/8-mile distance (5-1-3-1).
Sunday’s forecast call for mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s.
Sunday’s Best Plays
1ST – BABE HALL (El Corredor) could prove to be a tough customer in this
two-year-old maiden special event. She is coming off of a respectable
second-place effort to Wild Fit in her career debut, a race in which Babe Hall
was actually sent off as the favorite. Trainer Bob Baffert is a solid 23 percent
in the “2nd Career Race” trainer category and hits 27 percent of the time when
his runner was the beaten favorite in their previous start. The bay has posted
an impressive bullet work of :47 1/5 since her debut, which was the fastest of
30 that worked that morning. Espinoza has the call and he and Baffert have
combined for a 37 percent win rate over the last 60 days.
5TH – CUSCO (Ire) (Titus Livius [Fr]) has a solid chance of picking up her
third win in four starts since coming to North America in this eight-furlong
grass claiming event. It appears that there will be plenty of pace in this
affair, which should set up nicely for the chestnut as her BRIS Late Pace
ratings are at the top of the field and her last race BRIS Speed rating also
leads the way. Trainer Bob Hess Jr. gets his runners back into the winner’s
circle 20 percent of the time when they have won their previous start and he has
once more enlisted the services of Kent Desormeaux, a solid 14 percent grass
rider, who guided her to victory in her previous effort.
7TH – REISDENT ALIEN (Bertrando) made the “Horses to Watch” list last out
with her impressive nine-length score against Cal-bred maiden claiming company.
The dark bay was claimed out of that event by Jeff Mullins and has since posted
a bullet work of :46, the fastest time of the 39 that worked that day. Mullins
wins 34 percent of his starts in the “1st After Claim” trainer category and gets
runners back into the winner’s circle 33 percent of the time when they broke
their maiden in their previous start. Resident Alien posted a BRIS Speed rating
of 101 when breaking her maiden, which tops any Speed figure ever run by any
member of this starter allowance field. Victor Espinoza has the call and he has
combined with Mullins for a 25 percent win rate over the last 60 days.