Carmelita's Man back on favorite course for California Dreamin'

DEL MAR, Calif. – Summer at Del Mar is a virtual fountain of youth for the 7-year-old gelding Carmelita’s Man.

“It’s obvious he likes this course down here a little better,” trainer Dean Pederson said last week while Carmelita’s Man relaxed in his outside pen. Saturday, the veteran will try to become the first horse to win $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes three times.

“He looks like a million dollars,” Pederson noted, though skeptical bettors wonder if time has caught up with Carmelita’s Man. His most recent win was the California Dreamin’ one year ago. Before that, his previous win was in summer 2022 at Del Mar.

It’s not a knock. One must admire a gelding who has won eight races and $617,556 from 34 starts for owners Larry and Ann Jet. But time marches on, and Carmelita’s Man has lost seven in a row.

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“It’s not like he’s getting beat [a long way],” Pederson said. “A bad race for him is getting beat three lengths. Has he lost a step? Like all of us, absolutely. But he still trains with a lot of enthusiasm, and physically you can’t ask a horse to look any better.”

A return to the Del Mar turf that is firmer than Santa Anita turf will benefit late-runner Carmelita’s Man. He faces late-running stakes winner Old Pal and nine others in the California Dreamin’, a California-bred turf race at 1 1/16 miles that sets up for the closers.

Stretch-out sprinters On the Whim, Catalina Eddy, Disko Tribute, and Proof He Rides will help insure an honest pace. Others in the field include Passarando, Coalinga Road, None Above the Law, Oubabe, and Barely Funtional.

Tiago Pereira rides Carmelita’s Man, who benefits by a return to Del Mar and the pace scenario.

“If we have no excuse and get outrun, maybe the old boy’s telling us something,” Pederson said.

Old Pal is a 4-year-old who has won 3 of 6 for trainer Mark Glatt, including the Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds last year at Santa Anita. Third last out in a turf stakes at Santa Anita, Old Pal ran well under compromising conditions. He lost ground rallying wide from behind a slow pace.

“We just hope there’s a halfway legitimate pace scenario,” Glatt said. “When there’s no pace, they all bunch up. They don’t spread out, so with a closer, you have to swing wide a lot of the times. He’s an honest horse.”

He might be the horse to beat. Old Pal will be ridden by Mike Smith in a race that should unfold at a contested pace.

Catalina Eddy is among the four horses going longer, but he does not need the lead. He has won running long, and can rally from just off the pace under Juan Hernandez. Catalina Eddy adds blinkers. Coalinga Road is a California-bred stakes winner who is 2 for 4 on the Del Mar turf.

None Above the Law won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in 2021, before his career stalled. Claimed five starts back for $50,000 by trainer Jorge Periban, None Above the Law scored an upset win last out in the Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos, ending a 19-race winless streak.

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