After slow start, trainer Baltas seeks strong close to meet

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Del Mar summer meeting was in its eighth day of racing before trainer Richard Baltas had his first winner. The stable did not have a pretty start.

“I was 0 for 21,” Baltas recalled last weekend.

The slump was temporary.

Baltas, who tied for the training title at the 2017 summer meeting, had two wins on July 27, finally gaining the results that had been expected from opening day on July 18. Beginning July 28, Baltas’s stable has been in better form, winning with 11 of 57 starters through Sunday.

“It’s a roller-coaster ride,” Baltas said. “Sometimes, you have bad weeks.

“You have to look at the whole year. We’re holding our own.”

The last week of Del Mar could make the first week or so easy for Baltas to forget. Baltas is expected to have starters daily through Monday’s closing program, and has three runners being prepared for stakes this weekend – Midnight Crossing in Saturday’s Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes for females on turf, Desert Stone in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on turf, and Rijeka in Sunday’s $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf.

Baltas, 57, has won 10 stakes in his career at Del Mar, all since 2014, but has yet to win one this year.

Through Sunday, Baltas ranked fifth in the trainer standings behind leader Peter Miller, who had 28 wins. Baltas and Phil D’Amato tied for first with 18 wins last summer.

“I didn’t think I could do it this year,” he said.

All three of Baltas’s stakes runners this weekend are contenders.

Midnight Crossing, who is owned by Abbondanza Racing and Medallion Racing, won the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita in December. A 5-year-old mare, Midnight Crossing was third in the Osunitas Stakes on July 20 and sixth, beaten 3 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Aug. 4.

Owned by Zayat Stable, Desert Stone was fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, in the Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-olds on July 18 after a troubled start. The defeat stung Baltas, who watched Desert Stone win a maiden race and an optional claimer in consecutive starts at Santa Anita in the spring.

“He didn’t have the best trip,” Baltas said of the Oceanside. “I think it was a little short for him.

“He’s come a long way. He’s a horse that I think is developing. I liked him in the Oceanside.”

Rijeka, who races for Slam Dunk Racing and Michael Nentwig, won a one-mile turf race at Del Mar on Aug. 12. Rijeka was fifth at Leopardstown, Ireland, in May in his only other start. The win on Aug. 12 was a slight surprise to Baltas, who said Rijeka was far from flashy in the mornings after arriving from Ireland.

“He didn’t look like anything,” Baltas said.

Since that win, Rijeka’s enthusiasm has soared, and Baltas has high hopes for Sunday’s race.

To Baltas, Rijeka’s turnaround was a reminder of his Grade 1 winners Big Macher and Spanish Queen. His first impressions of those runners were modest.

Big Macher won six stakes in a four-year career, including the Bing Crosby Stakes in 2014, the first Grade 1 win for Baltas.

“He was a maiden claimer,” Baltas said.

Spanish Queen won the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita in 2015.

“She was a little Cal-bred,” he said. “I didn’t think she’d do anything.”

The 2014 and 2015 seasons were the first two years Baltas had stable earnings that surpassed the $1 million mark. Last year, Baltas, who trains more than 80 horses, had earnings of $4,977,119, a personal best.

Through Sunday, Baltas was at $3,159,578. A successful Labor Day weekend could move Baltas closer to his own record with a third of the year remaining.