Arles a likely pick six single in Red Carpet Handicap

DEL MAR, Calif. – There are no turkeys at the top of a crowded female turf division, and still room for more.

Tepin, Lady Eli, and Avenge are on the sidelines, being freshened for 2017. Miss Temple City and Time and Motion meet Dec. 4 in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar.

Thursday at Del Mar, more gravy. A Grade 3 for fillies and mares may set the table for the winter season in California, particularly if Arles runs as expected.

Ten fillies and mares go 1 3/8 miles on grass in the $100,000 Red Carpet Handicap, and 5-2 favorite Arles is a potential single for pick six bettors taking aim at the $82,426 Thanksgiving carryover. First post is 11 a.m. Pacific.

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Graham Motion is the new trainer for Arles, whose U.S. debut was a sharp runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Glens Falls, a productive turf marathon at Saratoga. The winner, Suffused, returned to finish second by a nose in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine; fourth-place Photo Call won the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland next out.

Arles, owned by Team Valor and partners, won 2 of 9 starts in Germany for trainer Andreas Wohler. She was transferred to Motion following her U.S. debut Sept. 3 and arrived Sunday in California to be cared for by Motion’s assistant Alice Clapham.

“They decided to give her a little time, with flying over [from Europe] and running, before we ran her back,” Clapham said. “She’s a nice, big filly. She’s settled down well to the American way of training.”

If she runs as well as her U.S. debut, Arles should be tough in the Red Carpet. Her main rivals are Frenzified, a marathon turf stakes winner at Del Mar in the summer for trainer Jim Cassidy; Grade 2 winner Generosidade; and allowance-caliber Into the Mystic. The field includes Japanese mare Nuovo Record, who has earned $4.9 million but appears off form.

Team Valor plans to race Arles in California this winter. In 2014, Team Valor brought Three Hearts west from New York. She won the Red Carpet and placed in three subsequent graded turf stakes at Santa Anita.

As for Motion and Clapham, they will be active at Del Mar. On Saturday, Ring Weekend is among the contenders in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit, while Happy Mesa and Journey Home run in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante for juvenile fillies. The Motion-trained Miss Temple City is the early favorite for the Grade 1 Matriarch on Dec. 4, closing day of the Del Mar meet.

KEY CONTENDERS

Arles, by Monsun
Beyer: 96
◗ Arles is facing an easier field than in her U.S. debut.
◗ She will be ridden by Joel Rosario.
◗ Motion won the 2015 Red Carpet with Rusty Slipper.

Frenzified, by Yeats
Last 3 Beyers: 96-92-87
◗ Her recent third in the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon on Oct. 1 was solid. The winner, Avenge, returned to finish third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf; eighth-place Elektrum returned to win the Grade 3 Dowager at Keeneland.
◗ The Red Carpet has been the target for Frenzified, who won the CTT & TOC Handicap at Del Mar in summer at the same distance.
◗ Cassidy said she is difficult to train. “She has to work from the gate, or with serious company, or she won’t go,” he said.
◗ Santiago Gonzalez rides Frenzified.

Nuovo Record, by Heart’s Cry
Beyer: 90
◗ She finished 11th of 13 in the BC Filly and Mare Turf in her U.S. debut.