D'Amato works his top-shelf runners for Del Mar stakes
Charmaine’s Mia, Going Global and Leggs Galore – fillies and mares who have combined to win a remarkable 10 stakes for trainer Phil D’Amato this year – worked at Santa Anita on Monday for upcoming stakes at the Del Mar summer meeting.
They are bound for races where they figure to be favored, or among the leading candidates.
Going Global, easily the leading 3-year-old filly on turf in California this year, worked five furlongs on the infield training track in 1:01 for the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile on turf on July 24. D’Amato envisions a two-race campaign for Going Global at Del Mar this summer, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Aug. 21.
An Irish-bred, Going Global won her fourth stakes of the year in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf by 4 3/4 lengths at Santa Anita on May 22.
“She’s in beast mode,” D’Amato said. “I’ve tried to maintain her. From each race to the next, she trains better and better.”
Charmaine’s Mia, who worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds on the training track on Monday, won two turf stakes at a mile and one at six furlongs at Santa Anita earlier this year before finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 31 in the longest race of her career. The Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf on Aug. 7 is her next expected start.
D’Amato said Charmaine’s Mia was hampered by a speed duel in the Gamely. Keeper Ofthe Stars, who pressed the pace, faded to finish fourth.
“It didn’t help either filly,” he said. “This is a mile and a sixteenth with a shorter stretch.”
The Grade 3 Ladies Sprint, a $600,000 race at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 11, is a long-range goal for Charmaine’s Mia.
Leggs Galore won two stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs and one at a mile at Santa Anita earlier this year before finishing second in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at a mile on turf on June 20. Leggs Galore, who worked three furlongs in 36.20 seconds on Monday, has two race options at Del Mar – the $80,000 Osunitas Stakes at a mile on July 17 or the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at a mile on Aug. 15.
D’Amato has the older males Acclimate, Count Again, and Say the Word in preparation for stakes at Del Mar. Collectively, they have failed to keep pace with the female counterparts in the stable, combining to win two stakes this year.
Acclimate, who won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at about 1 3/4 miles on turf for the second time in his career on June 19, worked three furlongs in 38.80 on Monday. The Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf on Aug. 21 is a goal and a race the 7-year-old Acclimate won in 2019.
Say the Word won the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Keeneland on April 17 and was a fast-closing second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 31. Monday, Say the Word worked five furlongs on the training track in 1:00 for what should be a strong running of the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on July 24.
Smooth Like Strait and Restrainedvengence, who were first and third in the Shoemaker, are bound for the Eddie Read. Restrainedvengence, trained by Val Brinkerhoff, worked a half-mile in 49.60 seconds on Monday. The race is expected to include the five-time stakes winner United.
Count Again, fourth in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 1, worked a half-mile in 49 seconds on the training track on Monday for the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap.
D’Amato said he does not plan to have a starter in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf on July 16, opening day of the meeting. Cathkin Peak, the winner of the Eddie Logan Stakes at mile on turf at Santa Anita in December, will not be ready, D’Amato said.
Cathkin Peak was second to eventual Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World in the Pasadena Stakes at a mile on turf on Feb. 27 in his most recent start. The Grade 3 La Jolla Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf on Aug. 8 is a goal for Cathkin Peak.