Dandy Warhol possible for Del Mar Derby

DEL MAR, Calif. - The lightly raced gelding Dandy Warhol may have his fourth career start in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 3 after winning for the second time with a sharp rally in an allowance race on Saturday.

Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, Dandy Warhol ($7.80) edged Handy Dandy by a nose, closing from 11 lengths off the pace on the turn.

The $300,000 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf would be Dandy Warhol’s third start of the Del Mar summer meeting.

Dandy Warhol won a maiden race at six furlongs on the synthetic track at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland in his lone start in that country in March.

In his American debut for current owners Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal and trainer Mark Glatt, Dandy Warhol finished a troubled sixth in the $104,000 Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf on July 22. Dandy Warhol broke slowly, raced in traffic, and clipped heels with a rival with three furlongs remaining.

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The Del Mar Derby will be Dandy Warhol’s longest start, but not a concern for Glatt regarding distance.

“I don’t think it will be a problem,” Glatt said.

The Del Mar Derby field may include St Anthony, who won Saturday’s $75,450 Robert Dupret Derby at 1 1/16 miles on turf at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa. St Anthony closed from fifth in early stretch to win by a half-length.

Trained by Neil Drysdale for Alice Bamford, St Anthony won his stakes debut in the Alcatraz Stakes at a mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields on May 29, but was eighth after a wide trip in the Oceanside.

“We have to consider it,” Drysdale said of the Del Mar Derby. “Why not?”

The Del Mar Derby is expected to have a large field including Balnikhov, the winner of the Oceanside Stakes, and American Theorem, who won the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 7.