Forever After All can break curse of the Red Carpet

Given that favorites almost never win the Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes, one could argue Forever After All is up against it in the turf marathon for fillies and mares Sunday at Del Mar.

The counter argument is Forever After All’s last start stamps her a potential standout despite recent history of the stakes. Since the first Del Mar autumn meet in 2014, Red Carpet favorites are 1 for 10 and half the winners paid more than $20.

Forever After All can restore order Sunday and provide Midwest trainer Brendan Walsh his first Del Mar victory. Forever After All, runner-up in a Grade 3 at Keeneland last month, figures to be strongly supported under jockey Juan Hernandez.

Eight allowance-caliber fillies and mares entered the 1 3/8-mile Red Carpet, which has marginal significance due to the limited number of filly-mare turf marathons. Forever After All’s rivals include shippers Marksman Queen and Mrs. Astor, and locally based Moment’s Pleasure, Ima Joker, Mahina, and Queens Command.

Forever After All’s campaign has been frustrating. After a comeback allowance win in February, her first start for Walsh, the 5-year-old lost her next seven.

“She’s been running solid races all year, and for one reason or another, some did not go quite according to plan,” Walsh said.

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She placed in three stakes early this year, including a third in the Grade 1 Gamely at Santa Anita. But she was subsequently derailed by course condition and finished off the board at Woodbine, and then Kentucky Downs.

“She didn’t really handle the track at Kentucky Downs, which a lot of horses don’t,” Walsh said, explaining her sixth-place finish.

Walsh was undeterred, and entered Forever After All in the Grade 3 Dowager on Oct. 20 at Keeneland. At 18-1, she missed by a nose.

“I think the [mile and a half] distance and more orthodox track helped her,” Walsh said. “I always think that race was in her, that’s why we ran her there.”

Walsh had two options for her next start – the Grade 3 Long Island on Nov. 10 at Aqueduct or the Red Carpet at Del Mar. “The Long Island was coming back a little too soon for her,” Walsh said.

He shipped her to Del Mar early this week. “She’s been there a few days, she’s doing good, she’s ready to go,” Walsh said Thursday.

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As for the 1-for-10 record by Red Carpet favorites, it’s an anomaly. During the same period, five Red Carpet favorites finished second. Forever After All has won two races and $435,569 from 19 starts for owner-breeder Dixiana Farms.

Marksman Queen, runner-up in a second-level allowance at Keeneland, runs for trainer Graham Motion and jockey Umberto Rispoli. Marksman Queen and Ima Joker are the likeliest to set the pace.

Moment’s Pleasure is an upset candidate in a race with a history of upsets. Runner-up last out, one-two in her four turf starts at Del Mar, including a Cal-bred stakes win in summer, Moments Pleasure is bred for the trip. She is by Clubhouse Ride and produced by a Lemon Drop Kid mare.

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