Best Pal: Two ‘Gustavs' in a row?

DEL MAR, Calif. – The fastest 2-year-olds of the meet thus far have been the maiden winners Chasing Aces and Straight Fire. Both are headed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day Sept. 5, and their most notable challengers are likely to emerge from the Grade 2, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes this Saturday.

Klimt, who beat maidens in his second start July 10 at Santa Anita, heads the prospective field for the Best Pal, which at 6 1/2 furlongs is 110 yards shorter than the seven-furlong Futurity. Klimt, by Quality Road, was named by owner Kaleem Shah for the late Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, so if he wins, it will be the second year in a row that the Best Pal will have been won by a horse named for someone whose first name is Gustav. Last year’s winner was Nyquist, named after the Detroit Red Wings hockey player Gustav Nyquist.

Shah, whose top horses Bayern and Dortmund were named for German soccer teams, said he has moved on to painters after several teams for whom he wanted to name additional horses already were claimed by The Jockey Club.

“Others started picking up on German and European soccer clubs, so I moved on to try something different,” Shah said last weekend during a morning visit to Del Mar. “Klimt is the first one. One painter at a time. If the first one does well, I’ll do another.”

Among those expected to challenge Klimt in the Best Pal are Big League, Drafted, Rinse and Repeat, Secret House, and Thirstforlife.

Drafted worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 on Monday morning for trainer Eoin Harty.

Sunday’s feature, the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for older California-bred females going one mile on turf, will be headed by Majestic Heat, who returned from an eight-month layoff to beat an open, second-level allowance field at Santa Anita on June 17. Possible rivals include Allsquare, Ashley’s Sassy, Barbara Beatrice, How Unusual, and Minister’sadventure.

Allsquare worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 on the main track Monday for trainer Phil D’Amato.