The $300,000 Hollywood Derby (G1) at Del Mar has been a difficult race for the home team to win in recent years. In the last eight runnings since 2016, shippers from the Eastern half of the U.S. have won the Derby six times. Four of them were trained by Chad Brown.
Brown surprisingly has none of the 13 three-year-olds in Saturday’s renewal, but shippers might still have an edge in the 1 1/8-mile grass test, which headlines a card that also includes the $200,000 Seabiscuit H. (G2) for older horses and the $100,000 Jimmy Durante (G3) for two-year-old fillies.
The Christophe Clement-trained Carson’s Run is the most accomplished of the invaders. A Grade 1 winner at two, Carson’s Run has won three of his last four outings, including the Saratoga Derby (G1) and Jockey Club Derby (G1) in New York. The form of both races has been upheld by stablemate Deterministic, who bounced back from losses in both events to win the Virginia Derby (G3) and Hill Prince (G3).
A more lightly raced ship-in is Donegal Momentum, who only debuted in May and has won three of five for trainer Tom Morley. Switched to the turf in August, the Uncle Mo colt won both his allowance debut on the surface at Saratoga and more recently the Gio Ponti S. at Aqueduct by two lengths.
The local contingent is led by Formidable Man, who possesses a 3-for-3 record over the Del Mar lawn. That record includes victories during the summer meet in the restricted Oceanside S. and Del Mar Derby, which he won by a half-length over Stay Hot and Atitlan. The latter bounced back to capture the Twilight Derby (G2) over Stay Hot and Cathal for trainer John Shirreffs, who captured the Hollywood Derby three years ago with Beyond Brilliant.
Chad Brown does have an important player in the Seabiscuit, which is run over 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Redistricting, whose last try in Southern California resulted in him being pulled up in the 2023 Hollywood Derby, returned from a 10-month spell in the Oct. 13 Knickerbocker (G3) at Aqueduct. He ran really well, finishing second by a neck, and figures to run an improved race second off the bench.
Another likely to come on from a very long layoff is Seal Team. The 2023 Twilight Derby hero was out of action for nearly a year afterward, finally reappearing in last month’s Lure S. at Santa Anita. He was favored but rallied too late for fifth behind Sumter.
Easter, the 2023 Seabiscuit winner, has not reached the winner’s circle in four outings this term, while Almendares has been the runner-up in the Del Mar Mile (G2) and City of Hope Mile (G2) in his last two. Cabo Spirit, upset scorer in the John Henry Turf Championship two back, is in a slightly more hospitable spot after finishing up the track in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) earlier this month.
Thirteen fillies, none of whom have won beyond the maiden ranks, were entered for the Jimmy Durante over one mile on the grass. Among the more intriguing contenders on paper are the stakes-placed Supa Speed and Sea Runner, and recent Woodbine graduate Will Then.
