Balnikhov possible for Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar

ARCADIA, Calif. - Balnikhov’s victory in the Grade 3 Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday gave the 5-year-old gelding a victory in the first of a three-race series over the next eight months that encompasses races at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park.

A sweep of the series is worth a $2.5 million bonus. The problem is one of the races is held at Santa Anita on a turf course Balnikhov does not seem to prefer.

Since arriving from France in early 2022, Balnikhov is winless in eight starts on turf at Santa Anita, although two losses were by a nose. In 10 starts at other tracks across the country, Balnikhov has won at Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, Keeneland and now Pimlico.

“He’s not shown to be effective at Santa Anita,” trainer Phil D’Amato said from his Santa Anita stable on Sunday morning.

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Balnikhov ($12.80) closed from last of nine to win the $500,000 Dinner Party Stakes at 1 1/8 miles by 1 1/2 lengths over a soft turf course in his second start of the spring.

On April 27, Balnikhov closed well to finish third by a half-length in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields, a race he won in 2023.

Two races in a three-week span have earned Balnikhov a brief late spring vacation, D’Amato said. Early Sunday morning, Balnikhov was vanned from Pimlico to D’Amato’s stable in Kentucky.

D’Amato said he will consider races around the nation, including the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 28.

“He ran two big races close together and we’ll figure it out,” D’Amato said.

Balnikhov was second to stablemate Gold Phoenix in the 2023 Eddie Read. Gold Phoenix is a candidate for this year’s Eddie Read.

“There's always a possibility of Del Mar, if we don’t find a race back there,” D’Amato said of eastern tracks.

Balnikhov won the richest race of his career in the Dinner Party Stakes. Owned by the partnership of Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, and Old Bones Racing Stable, Balnikhov has won 7 of 26 starts and earned $987,843.

The Dinner Party Stakes is part of a three-race series of turf races at tracks owned by 1/ST Racing. The series continues with the Grade 2 California Crown John Henry Turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 27, and concludes with the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park in January.

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