Du Jour looks ready for Breeders' Cup in Del Mar Mile win
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DEL MAR, Calif. - Du Jour, the 5-year-old gelding, and Flavien Prat, one of the nation’s leading riders, were reunited for the first time in more than two years in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile.
The partnership performed like old friends in the $302,500 race on turf, Del Mar’s top one-mile turf race of the summer meeting.
Prat positioned Du Jour on the inside until early stretch, and rallied with a wide move through the final furlong to record a comprehensive win.
The win moved Du Jour closer to a potential start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, an international race Prat said would suit the three-time stakes winner.
“He’ll be competitive,” Prat predicted as he walked toward the jockey’s room. “He’s the best out here” in California.
On Saturday, Du Jour ($10.20) finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of 9-5 favorite Exaulted, who did not have a clean trip through the final quarter-mile.
From the start, Prat had Du Jour in a tracking position behind Exaulted, the winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 29 in his last start. Turning into the stretch, Prat moved Du Jour off the rail and found a clear racing path. Juan Hernandez kept Exaulted on the inside and had his momentum interrupted while negotiating around a fading pacesetter in Sumter.
“I had a good trip,” Prat said. “I was behind Exaulted, and I thought he was the horse to beat. I had a chance to tip out and got the jump on him.”
Du Jour was timed in 1:33.82 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102.
Exaulted closed from fifth in the final furlong.
“I had a little trouble at the quarter-pole,” Hernandez said. “When I got him clear, it was too late. The other horse got a jump on me. I wish I had a better trip.”
Visitant (22-1) was always near the front behind 20-1 Sumter and held third. Irideo closed from last to finish fourth, followed by Twist, I’m A Gambler, Count Again, Balnikhov, War At Sea, and Sumter.
Du Jour, who races for Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni and is trained by Jill’s husband Bob, has won 5 of 15 starts and earned $918,220.
By Temple City, Du Jour finished a troubled sixth in the Shoemaker Mile, beaten 3 1/4 lengths. In the interim, Du Jour won the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf on July 23 when ridden by Hernandez.
Du Jour won the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs in May 2021. Du Jour missed all of 2022 before returning to racing in February with a nose loss in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.
The Del Mar Mile was the first time Prat was aboard Du Jour since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita in December 2021.
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