Del Mar trims stakes for fall meet
Del Mar has scheduled 14 stakes worth $2,050,000 for its 15-day autumn meeting from Nov. 11 to Dec. 4, a reduction from the 17 stakes offered at the 20-day meeting in 2015.
This year’s schedule more closely resembles the 14-race stakes schedule from 2014, the first year the track ran an autumn meeting following the closure of Hollywood Park at the end of 2013.
This year’s calendar includes two Grade 1 turf races worth $300,000 each – the Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on Dec. 3 and the Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile Dec. 4.
Four stakes have been cut or transferred to Santa Anita. The Golden State Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies for California-bred sprinters and the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes for fillies and mares on turf will return to Santa Anita, having been run at Del Mar only in 2015. The $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at seven furlongs has been canceled.
The purses of three races have been cut by $50,000 – the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 25, the $200,000 Seabiscuit Handicap on Nov. 26, and the $100,000 Native Diver Stakes on Nov. 27 – because of a deficit in the purse pool.
The track has added the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes, a Grade 2 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on dirt Dec. 3. The race was run at Los Alamitos in 2014 but was not held in 2015 because of purse constraints at the Orange County track.
Stewards fine Cerin $1,500
Trainer Vladimir Cerin was fined $1,500 by Del Mar stewards after two of his winners at Santa Anita earlier this year tested in excess of the permitted level of Methylprednisolone, an anti-inflammatory steroid, according to a ruling published Wednesday.
The overages were found in post-race tests taken from Nine Point Nine, who won the sixth race on June 19, and Roman Tizzy, who won the sixth race on July 3. Nine Point Nine ($27.60) won an optional claimer at a mile on turf, earning $45,240. Roman Tizzy ($8) won a $16,000 claimer, earning $13,800.
The purses were not altered because Methylprednisolone is a class 4 medication. Violations for medications in classes 1, 2, or 3 typically result in purse redistributions.
Nine Point Nine and Roman Tizzy were found to have 435 and 346 picograms of Methylprednisolone in post-race tests. California Horse Racing Board rules allow up to 100 picograms of the medication.