Del Mar: Breeders' Cup meet kicks off with Let It Ride

The mellow ambience that typifies autumn at Del Mar will arrive soon enough, but only after a festive weekend with 14 Breeders’ Cup races and six undercard stakes spread over Friday and Saturday.

Thursday is opening day of a five-week autumn meet that trainer Phil D’Amato looks forward to.

“Del Mar in fall is a different feel from the summer,” he said. “You still have that nice, cozy feeling down there by the ocean. It’s like a mini-vacation for all of us horsemen.”

D’Amato has other reasons to enjoy Del Mar. He led the standings the past three autumn meets and will seek an opening-day victory with King of Gosford in the $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes. The likely favorite, King of Gosford faces a tough draw (post 10 of 10) in the turf mile for 3-year-olds.

It will get even tougher for D’Amato in Breeders’ Cup races Friday and Saturday. Most of his eight BC candidates are outsiders. The exceptions are Thought Process in the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday, and horse-for-course Motorious in the Turf Sprint on Saturday.

From a wagering perspective, bettors who prefer a $1 minimum in the pick six are in luck this fall. Del Mar retained the low minimum, though it rarely generates carryovers. There were four pick six carryovers during the fall meet at Santa Anita, where the pick six minimum was $2.

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The payout structure of the Del Mar pick six has been tweaked. It is now an 80-20 split (80 percent to perfect tickets or carryover; 20 percent to consolations). The previous split was 70-30.

Beyond the Breeders’ Cup on opening weekend, the Turf Festival on closing weekend is an annual California highlight, with seven turf stakes. Those include two Grade 1s – the Hollywood Derby on Nov. 30 and Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares on closing day, Dec. 1.

Following the four-day schedule opening week, Del Mar will run three days per week, Friday through Sunday. Racing secretary David Jerkens will lean heavily on 2-year-olds and grass races.

“We’re going to do our best to offer a balanced program,” Jerkens said, referring to the ratio of turf and dirt races.

“We know how challenging it is to fill dirt races in California most of the year,” Jerkens said, adding that early signs are positive regarding race-ready horses. “The numbers are encouraging compared to last year. I’ve seen a slight uptick in the facilities that are open in October.”

After the Breeders’ Cup, only about 300 horses will be stabled at Del Mar. The autumn season is primarily a ship-in meet that draws mostly from horses at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos. As expected in fall, turf races and 2-year-old races make up a large bulk of the program.

During the 2022 fall meet, more than 52 percent of the races were on turf; more than 30 percent were races for 2-year-olds. Average field size on turf was 8.1; average field size on dirt was 6.7.

Purses are down this fall compared to last year. Maiden races with a $61,000 purse a year ago dropped to $54,000 this fall. Entry-level allowance races dropped from $63,000 to $55,000. In an effort to attract more starters, Del Mar will pay trainers a $400 stipend for each starter, excluding stakes and Breeders’ Cup days. Track announcer Larry Collmus will call the autumn races for the fifth consecutive year.

The opening-day Let It Ride Stakes, a restricted stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf, became more complicated when likely favorite King of Gosford drew outside in the 10-runner field. It’s not an impossible post, but it is challenging. Since 2014, when the Del Mar turf was replaced, post 10 has produced 9 percent winners (38 of 433) at a mile on turf.

King of Gosford, a sprint stakes winner who placed in turf route stakes, is dropping significantly in class. He faces 3-year-olds after finishing third against older in the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes on the Santa Anita hill. He had trouble into the lane and missed by less than three lengths.

“I liked his effort,” D’Amato said. “Stretching back to a mile against straight 3-year-olds, he should be very tough.”

Flavien Prat rides King of Gosford; the trainer-jockey combo also teams in race 6 with European import Broski in a turf mile for maiden 2-year-olds.

King of Gosford’s main rival is Brad Cox-trained shipper Take Me To Church, recently third in a stakes at Aqueduct. British Isles placed in both recent starts against older allowance rivals and could slip through the cracks. His form is similar to Let It Ride upset winner Defiantly (2016) and Strongconstitution (2020). Both entered the Let It Ride following allowance losses against older.

The most probable winner Thursday is in race 3. Only five entered the maiden sprint for California-bred 2-year-old fillies; Going Deep should be long gone as the favorite. First post is 12:30 p.m.

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