Edgeway, Scotish Star main threats in Rancho Bernardo
Without the West Coast’s top female sprinters in the field, the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap on Friday at Del Mar should be relatively easy. It is not easy.
Grade 1 winners Gamine and Ce Ce are based at Del Mar, but neither entered the Rancho Bernardo. Both are nominated to the Grade 1 Ballerina next week at Saratoga.
That leaves five fillies and mares in the Rancho Bernardo, a 6 1/2-furlong race in which Edgeway will try to rebound from the worst race of her career and Scotish Star will try to finish with proper footwear after blowing a shoe in her U.S. debut.
Proud Emma, Stellar Sound, and Candura also were entered in the Rancho Bernardo. Determining the most likely winner is a dilemma. Edgeway had never run a bad race until the Grade 2 Great Lady M. last month at Los Alamitos. Edgeway dueled with Gamine, cracked, and faded to fourth, beaten more than 11 lengths in her first start without Lasix.
“I thought she bled,” trainer John Sadler said. “That’s what made it such a head-scratcher – she didn’t bleed. It was extremely disappointing. That being said, the real Edgeway would have been second. The way Gamine was, nobody was beating her.”
Edgeway’s misfire might have been due to unfamiliar surroundings. Horses stabled at other tracks occasionally unravel at Los Alamitos. Edgeway is not the first to fall apart.
“We sent her over on race day, and she washed out really bad,” Sadler said.
A 4-for-7 stakes winner owned by Hronis Racing, Edgeway has trained with enthusiasm since shipping to Del Mar.
“She’s been training well and she is going to run out of her own stall here at Del Mar,” Sadler said. “I expect her to go back to being herself.” Joe Bravo rides Edgeway; her typical 94 Beyer Speed Figure matches recent par for the Rancho Bernardo.
Scotish Star has the most upside in the Rancho Bernardo. She dazzled in Argentina in her first two starts, winning both by seven lengths including a Group 1. She ran well in her U.S. debut, missing by a neck in an allowance sprint July 29 at Del Mar while on her wrong lead.
“She lost a shoe in the race,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “I think that’s why she was skidding a little the last part. We got the shoe back on, we’re in good shape. I think she’ll run good.”
Scotish Star drew the disadvantageous rail under Flavien Prat, but her speed could allow her to establish position. Through Sunday, the rail was 1 for 34 in dirt sprints from six furlongs to 6 1/2. Scotish Star and Edgeway appear to be the quickest in the field.
Graded stakes-placed Stellar Sound, trained by Michael McCarthy, defeated Scotish Star in the July 29 allowance and will rally late in the Rancho Bernardo. Proud Emma, 2 for 3 at Del Mar, is a graded winner making her first start in six months. She is trained by leading trainer Peter Miller, whose entrants in six races Friday all look live.
Candura, Edgeway’s stablemate, will rally late.