Finnegans Wake seeks to halt skid in Del Mar Handicap
DEL MAR, Calif. – Three months ago, Finnegans Wake would have been an odds-on favorite to win a race such as Saturday’s $250,000 Del Mar Handicap. He had four wins in graded stakes on turf in the preceding six months and was rising in the national turf division.
Three races and three losses later, Finnegans Wake is in need of a win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap. Run at 1 3/8 miles on turf, the Del Mar Handicap is the top marathon race of the track’s summer meeting, and one with a tantalizing bonus – the winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
That could be a goal for Finnegans Wake and two other leading entrants – Big John B, who won the 2014 Del Mar Handicap, and Ashleyluvssugar, who won two Grade 2 races on turf at Santa Anita earlier this year. Big John B and Finnegans Wake were ninth and 10th in the 2014 BC Turf at Santa Anita.
They form the core of a highly competitive race.
Del Mar Handicap, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Finnegans Wake (Last 3 Beyers: 86-92-100)
◗ Trained by Peter Miller, the 6-year-old Finnegans Wake won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 2. He was later fourth in the Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes on turf at Belmont Park on June 6 and fourth in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on dirt June 27.
Finnegans Wake was third in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf here July 18, racing on a course that had sustained rain that day.
“It was a little slick and a little soft,” Miller said. “He didn’t really like it, but he ran well.”
There is no rain in the forecast for Saturday, and Miller envisions Finnegans Wake playing a role from off the pace.
“I expect the same hard-charging, late-finishing horse,” Miller said. “He seems like his old self.”
Big John B (Last 3 Beyers: 94-96-95)
◗ Big John B has won his last two starts – a starter handicap on turf at Santa Anita on June 28 and the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on dirt here July 24. Big John B was favored in the Del Mar Handicap last year and easily could have that role again this year.
“He is definitely back to that form and hopefully better,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “He’s a lot fresher horse [this year] with the big stakes in mind. He couldn’t be doing better. We have to beat Finnegans Wake and Ashleyluvssugar.”
◗ D’Amato also runs Danas Best, a 6-year-old Australian-bred gelding who was a fast-closing fifth in an optional claimer here July 30 in his U.S. debut. Danas Best won a minor handicap in Australia earlier this year.
“He shouldn’t be overlooked,” D’Amato said. “He needed his first start in this country.”
Ashleyluvssugar (Last 3 Beyers: 96-104-103)
◗ Ashleyluvssugar had career-best performances earlier this year – with wins in the San Luis Rey Stakes in March and the Charles Whittingham Stakes in May – before finishing sixth of nine in the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 5. Ashleyluvssugar faded from contention in the final furlong of that 1 3/8-mile turf race.
“He never really relaxed,” trainer Peter Eurton said.
◗ Ashleyluvssugar drew the rail and is likely to race from a stalking position.