D'Amato reflects on recent stakes wins
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The veteran 5-year-olds King of Gosford and Sorrento Sky were slightly overlooked in Grade 2 stakes at Del Mar last Saturday, but they produced their best races of the year at an optimum time.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, King of Gosford ($12.40) won his first graded stakes since the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in May 2025 in the $303,000 Del Mar Mile on turf. Meanwhile, Sorrento Sky ($16) closed from last of eight to record an upset in the $201,500 Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf, giving D’Amato his fourth consecutive win in the track’s premier turf sprint.
Umberto Rispoli was aboard the pair. Both horses are under consideration for Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 31, with caveats.
King of Gosford is likely to start in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 26. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Mile at Keeneland.
“It’s a Win and You’re In over a course where he won a Grade 1 race,” D’Amato said. “That might be a viable option.”
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Without a fees-paid berth, an entry in the $2 million BC Mile would cost owners Sandra Benowitz, John Rochfort, Michael Nentwig, Saul Gevertz, and Jeremy Peskoff $60,000.
Sorrento Sky is co-owned by Benowitz, Rochford, Gevertz, Nentwig, Ian McLean, and Marc Lantzman. As of now, they face a more difficult decision with Sorrento Sky regarding a potential start in the BC Turf Sprint.
Sorrento Sky, an Irish-bred gelding, was not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program as a foal and is by Prince of Lir, who was not nominated to the program as a stallion. Hence, Sorrento Sky must be supplemented to the Breeders’ Cup program for the remainder of his career for $200,000.
“They’re thinking seriously of nominating him,” D’Amato said.
The partnership would not need to pay an entry fee for Sorrento Sky since the winner of the Green Flash receives a fees-paid berth, provided the horse is nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
No decision is imminent, said D'Amato. Sorrento Sky will be considered for two Grade 2 stakes on turf – the $200,000 Eddie D Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sept. 26 or the $400,000 Woodford Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland on Oct. 3.
D’Amato won the Green Flash from 2023 to 2025 with Motorious, who could only finish fourth as the 8-5 favorite on Saturday. Motorious, ridden by Antonio Fresu, closed from eighth on the turn to finish 2 1/2 lengths behind Sorrento Sky.
D’Amato said Motorious was disrupted by a pre-race incident in which Man O Rose broke through the gate and galloped approximately a quarter-mile down the turf course before he was secured by an outrider and brought back to the gate. Jockey Edwin Maldonado remained aboard Man O Rose after the gelding broke through the gate, and the field was unloaded briefly while Man O Rose was caught.
Motorious “kind of got worked up,” D’Amato said. “Antonio said he wasn’t himself. In the stretch, he leveled off and gave him something. We’ll give him another chance to get to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Man O Rose was not scratched. Man O Rose, who customarily races near the front, raced behind the pace in the initial furlong and faded from contention under Maldonado.
Man O Rose sustained a cut on a leg, according to trainer Jeff Mullins, who suspects the incident occurred before the race began. Man O Rose was inspected by a veterinarian before he was cleared to run. Mullins argued on Sunday that Man O Rose should not have started.
“You don’t know how hard the horse hit the gate,” Mullins said of when Man O Rose broke through before the start. “It wasn’t a good experience for the horse.”
Track stewards said the decision on whether to scratch a runner is contingent on advice from a track veterinarian stationed at the gate.
Scott Chaney, the executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, said on Sunday a formal rule about whether such runners should be scratched is unlikely, and that officials lean on the expertise of veterinarians on a case-by-case basis.
“If you don’t make it a judgement call, then it’s automatic all the time,” he said.
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