Diamond Bar Gal gets a shot at redemption

DEL MAR, Calif. – Although she lost her comeback as the favorite, Diamond Bar Gal ran well enough to finish third. With the benefit of a prep, she figured to be a contender in her next out.

It’s what happened after the finish of her comeback that gives bettors reason to pause. Diamond Bar Gal pulled up on the backstretch of the California-bred allowance turf sprint. She did not return to be unsaddled. Instead, she was transported by equine ambulance back to the stable of trainer Brian Koriner.

The thing is, there was nothing wrong with Diamond Bar Gal.

“The way she leans on the bridle, it’s like she’s lame,” Koriner said. “But she’s not. You take the saddle off and jog her, and she pounds right down the road. There’s nothing wrong with her.”

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Diamond Bar Gal gets a shot at redemption Thursday. She wheels back in a similar turf sprint for statebred fillies and mares, the featured sixth race Thursday on an eight-race card.

The field includes two main front-runners – also-eligible Dancing Soul and comebacker Nene Diamond. The pace scenario depends largely on Dancing Soul. If she does not draw in, Nene Diamond could have things her own way on the front end.

Diamond Bar Gal is the one to beat despite her ambulance ride. Koriner was waiting at the barn when she returned.

“As soon as she got off the van, I was here,” he said. “She jogged straight down the road, sound as can be. She just has a tendency to lean on the bridle on one side.”

Other than arthroscopic surgery last year to remove a knee chip, 1-for-3 Diamond Bar Gal has had no issues.

“She’s about as clean as they get,” Koriner said.

Armando Ayuso is the new rider for Diamond Bar Gal, who has worked and trained well since that race and will rally from behind over a turf course that has played fair in sprints this summer regardless of rail setting. The rails are at 18 feet Thursday.

Nene Diamond makes her first start since a debut win for trainer Mike Puype in February 2023. Puype was recently “provisionally suspended” by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. Puype’s assistant, Francisco Garcia, is Nene Diamond’s trainer.

The question for Nene Diamond is footing. She is switching to turf after a debut victory on dirt in February 2023. According to DRF Formulator, progeny of Stanford win turf sprints at the same rate (17 percent) as dirt sprints (17 percent). Juan Hernandez rides Nene Diamond.

A front-runner, Nene Diamond’s chances hinge on the status of her pace rival. Dancing Soul needs one scratch to make the race. Based on her recent win in a $32,000 claiming turf sprint, she could wire the field again. Dancing Soul is dropping in class to face California-breds.

While the featured sixth race is fairly wide open, an earlier turf sprint Thursday offers one of the card’s most probable winners. Recinto Rompere, a troubled runner-up last out in a claiming race, meets easier in race 2, a nonwinners-of-three starter allowance. Leonard Powell trains Recinto Rompere, whose rider is Umberto Rispoli.

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