Del Mar Futurity will point out strongest region for juveniles
DEL MAR, Calif. – Mark Casse sent Pappacap west earlier this summer because he thought he was a Breeders’ Cup horse. Steve Asmussen has sent American Xperiment here because he’s eyeing the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, held at Del Mar on Nov. 5. Those Hall of Fame trainers will try to knock off the local 2-year-old kingpin, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who sends out two runners, Murray and Pinehurst, in search of his 15th Del Mar Futurity when the championship race of the meet for 2-year-olds is run Monday.
The Grade 1, $300,000 Futurity drew just six runners, including longshots Finneus and Olympic Legend. Though light on numbers, it’s a compelling seven-furlong race in that it matches the winner of the Grade 2 Best Pal – the local Futurity prep – in Pappacap against debut winners Murray and Pinehurst while offering an opportunity to compare circuits with American Xperiment shipping in from Saratoga.
The Futurity is race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 1:30 p.m. Pacific. It is immediately preceded by the Del Mar Juvenile Turf. The races are part of a pick six that will have a mandatory payout owing to it being closing day.
Pappacap, part of Casse’s far-flung operation, won his debut on May 14 at Gulfstream Park. With strings this summer at both Saratoga and Del Mar, Casse elected to send him here, and last month Pappacap ran his record to 2 for 2 with an easy, 4 3/4-length romp in the Best Pal.
He’ll need to be faster, though, as Pappacap’s best Beyer Speed Figure is 70, at least 10 points shy of the debut figs earned by his three primary rivals.
“We know the Best Pal wasn’t the strongest field. The waters will be deeper,” Casse said from Saratoga.
Pappacap, from the first crop of the hot sire Gun Runner, “showed us he was pretty good from the beginning,” Casse said.
The Breeders’ Cup being at Del Mar this year was the deciding factor on where to head for the summer.
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“We think he’s a Breeders’ Cup horse,” said Casse, who trains Pappacap for his breeders, the Rustlewood Farm of George and Karen Russell.
American Xperiment, by Futurity winner Nyquist, got a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 winning in the mud at Saratoga in a race that was rained off the turf. Asmussen is trying to divide and conquer in Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds on Monday. He has Gunite in the Hopeful at Saratoga.
American Xperiment is “a fast horse. He’s a nice horse. He’s very mature, he’s very straightforward,” Asmussen said.
“His work here with Echo Zulu a couple of weeks ago was the kind of work we’ve gotten paid for in the past, so I’m very encouraged with it,” Asmussen said.
On Aug. 22 at Saratoga, American Xperiment and the 2-year-old filly Echo Zulu worked five furlongs in company over the Oklahoma training track in 1:01.21. Echo Zulu, a 5 1/4-length debut winner on July 15 at Saratoga with a 92 Beyer, was scheduled to run in Sunday’s Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga.
Asmussen said he plans to leave American Xperiment in California with the hopes of running in the Breeders’ Cup. He said the Futurity will help him get a line on where his 2-year-olds stack up with the West Coast’s juveniles.
“It’s a barometer where we’re at,” Asmussen said.
That measuring stick is often provided by Baffert, who has won the Futurity a record 14 times, beginning with Silver Charm in 1996 and most recently with Game Winner in 2018. Both his entrants this year earned solid figures in their debut victories.
Murray, by Street Sense, crushed his rivals by nearly 11 lengths winning a 5 1/2-furlong race July 25 with a Beyer Figure of 82.
“We thought the distance might be a little short, but it wasn’t,” Baffert said.
Pinehurst overcame the rail and seven rivals when winning going five furlongs on Aug. 1. He got an 86 Beyer, the top number in this field.
“He’s quick,” Baffert said of the son of Twirling Candy.
Both Murray and Pinehurst are owned by a partnership that includes Starlight Racing, SF Racing, and Madaket Stables, who were part of the groups that raced Authentic and Justify.
Finneus was a distant second to Pappacap in the Best Pal. He has raced three times, making him the most-experienced horse in the field.
Olympic Legend was scheduled to make his third start in the Best Pal, but flipped and ran off upon arrival at the starting gate, necessitating a scratch. He last raced June 27 at Los Alamitos, when he beat maidens in his second start. He wore blinkers for his first two races, but they are being removed for the Futurity.
– additional reporting by David Grening