Del Mar Oaks nominations released
Filly-mare turf races including the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 20 are spotlighted next week at Del Mar, where all three stakes Aug. 19-21 are for females on turf. Sandwiched around the $300,000 Oaks is the $100,000 CTT & TOC Stakes on Aug. 19, and $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares on Aug. 21.
Nominations were released this week for the Aug. 19-21 stakes, below are quick looks.
Neige Blanche seeks her second win in the mile and three-eighths CTT & TOC on Friday; the 9-for-19 marathon specialist also won the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap at Del Mar last fall. Neige Blanche tops the list of 17 nominees to the CTT & TOC, others include sharp allowance filly Bellamore and graded winner Counterparty Risk.
The Del Mar Oaks on Saturday attracted a high-class list of 28 nominees including Spendarella, the Maryland-based graded winner who recently returned from Royal Ascot where she finished second in a Group 1. She is trained by Graham Motion.
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The list of Oaks nominees also includes 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca and Cairo Memories, a multiple graded winner returning home to California following a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. Cairo Memories is trained by Bob Hess, Jr. Trainer Phil D’Amato nominated five to the Del Mar Oaks including Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes 1-2-3 finishers Bellabel, Sixteen Arches and Island of Love.
Pulpit Ride will try Sunday to become the second horse to win the Solana Beach Stakes three successive years. Halo Dolly won the mile and one-sixteenth Cal-bred stake three straight years, from 2011 to 2013.
Trained by Mike Puype and owned by breeders Larry and Marianne Williams, 7-year-old Pulpit Rider has won a race at Del Mar four of the past five summers. However, in five starts since winning the 2021 Solana Beach, she has not finished in the money.
Among the 16 nominees to the Solana Beach are graded winner Leggs Galore, stakes-placed Eddie’s New Dream and Sassyserb.