Skyway aims to follow up in Del Mar Futurity; ‘Renee’ gives zip to undercard

Skyway aims to follow up in Del Mar Futurity; ‘Renee’ gives
zip to undercard

Skyway (left) and Henry’s Holiday were the respective top two in the Best Pal (Benoit Photos) Del Mar‘s summer season comes to an end with a bang on Wednesday, with a four-stakes card anchored by the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity. The seven-furlong test for juveniles determines the pro tempore leader of the division on the West Coast, a position that Best Pal winner Skyway hopes to shore up at the seaside track. Originally based with trainer Mark Casse’s string in Kentucky, Skyway romped in his debut over Keeneland’s Polytrack before finishing a well-beaten third in the Bashford Manor on the Churchill Downs dirt. The son of Sky Mesa handed Del Mar newcomer Casse a memorable first career win here in the August 3 Best Pal, where he reveled in the chance to return to a Polytrack surface. Skyway has trained forwardly in the interim and gets a rider switch from Stewart Elliott, who had ridden him in all three previous starts, to Corey Nakatani. The 122-pound highweight is drawn on the outside in post 9. Best Pal runner-up Henry’s Holiday is capable of turning the tables. A smart debut winner at Santa Anita, the Doug O’Neill pupil was a late-running fourth in the Santa Anita Juvenile and an eyecatching second in the 6 1/2-furlong Best Pal. The Harlan’s Holiday colt, who is out of a Victory Gallop mare, stands to benefit from the extra ground in the Del Mar Futurity and keeps Tyler Baze aboard.

Recent maiden winner Red Button, a Distorted Humor half-brother to Grade 1
victress Sugar Shake, has plenty of upside. No match for Bad Read Sanchez when
slowly away in his premiere, the Mark Glatt trainee showed smart gears from off
the pace to get up in time here on July 26. Significantly, he lures the red-hot
Rafael Bejarano into the saddle.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert dominates the record book with 11 wins in
the Del Mar Futurity, but his duo of Holiday Camp and American Pharaoh must
improve to give him a 12th. Holiday Camp rolled in his first try at Santa Anita,
defeating next-out winner Rowdy Dylan. Dispatched as the even-money favorite
next time in the Santa Anita Juvenile, Holiday Camp never recovered from a
troubled start and trailed home last of six. The Street Boss colt just fired a
six-furlong bullet in 1:12 at Del Mar last Wednesday, and could regroup with
Martin Garcia.

The maiden American Pharaoh was favored at 7-5 in his only start on August 9,
but retreated to fifth behind the ultra-impressive Om. Sired by former Baffert
star Pioneerof the Nile, himself a Zayat Stables runner, American Pharaoh also
tuned up with a bullet in :59 for five furlongs last Wednesday. Victor Espinoza
picks up the mount.

The well-bred Iron Fist exits that same maiden, where he was best of the rest
behind the imperious Om. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, who sent
out Tamarando to take the 2013 Del Mar Futurity, Iron Fist has gotten off to
slow starts in both of his outings so far. He rallied for fourth in a
five-furlong dash here July 19 prior to his improved effort last time. If he
doesn’t complicate his task right from the break, Iron Fist can make his
presence felt. A $1.55 million Keeneland September yearling purchase, the Tapit
ridgeling is a full brother to the well-regarded sophomore Anchor Down and a
half-brother to Grade 1 star Sweet Lulu. Hall of Famer Mike Smith sticks with
the promising gray.

The Peter Miller-trained Calculator has competed in the same two maidens,
splitting decisions with Iron Fist. Third in their mutual debut, he was most
recently fourth to Om. Elvis Trujillo takes the call on the In Summation colt,
who smoked five-eighths in a bullet :58 2/5 last Thursday.

Inexcess Time comes off a local maiden score for Walther Solis, beating the
troubled Oh Newman, who closed fast for third.

Two races earlier, the $100,000

Oak Tree Juvenile Turf figures to have implications for the
Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Turf. Top contenders in the one-mile affair include Sky Preacher, who
aired by 7 1/2 lengths in his first turf try for O’Neill at Santa Anita; the
Cody Autrey-trained Dallas Skyline, a convincing course-and-distance winner on
July 30; Papacoolpapacool, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Dallas Skyline in that mutual
debut; Highway Boss, who switches surfaces off a fourth in the Best Pal; pace
factor Peacenluvpeacenluv, claimed out of his Polytrack maiden score by George
Papaprodromou and bred to enjoy turf as a son of Artie Schiller; and first-time
starter Conquest Bespoke, worth a look as a Conquest Stables colorbearer from
the Casse barn.

Reneesgotzip towers over the C.E.R.F. field (Benoit Photos) Among the older brigade, star sprinter Reneesgotzip headlines the $90,000 C.E.R.F. Stakes at six furlongs on Polytrack. The daughter of City Zip was a resounding 3 1/4-length winner of this event back in 2012, but skipped the 2013 running after she crushed the Rancho Bernardo by 4 1/4 lengths. In her only subsequent start last year, she was a dead-heat runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint — her second consecutive placing in that lucrative prize. Reneesgotzip was sidelined until she mounted a Rancho Bernardo title defense on August 17, and ran as if in need of the race when third to Judy the Beauty. Wheeling back two weeks later for this engagement, the Miller mare promises to improve substantially and flaunt her class. Her eight rivals are Go West Marie, last-out winner of the Fleet Treat over the track; Llandudno, who missed by a head in the April 12 Las Cienegas on Santa Anita’s downhill turf two back; Kinz Funky Monkey, who was just caught in the off-the-turf Daisycutter; Clearly Confused, runner-up in the Desert Stormer earlier this summer on the Santa Anita dirt; multiple stakes heroine Top Kisser from the Hollendorfer barn; Fanticola, who has been knocking on the proverbial door with a trio of stakes placings this season; Group 3-placed Belle de Lune, returning from a 13-month layoff for Tom Proctor; and Baffert’s Maker or Breaker, a half-sister to two-time champion Indian Blessing.

In the $90,000

Pirate’s Bounty, Seeking the Sherif looms as the one to beat. The Ron Ellis
class climber reeled off a four-race winning streak before trying the July 27
Bing Crosby at this track and six-furlong trip, and he was not disgraced when
third in that Grade 1 event. Seeking the Sherif drops in class to face the likes
of Ain’t No Other, a close second to Private Zone in the 2013 Pirate’s Bounty;
No Silent, twice stakes-placed for Gary Mandella; and recent allowance/optional
claiming winners Ankeny Hill and Bull Dozer.

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