Friday's fourth race is a stakes-caliber affair
:quality(75))
The conditions indicate that Friday’s fourth race at Del Mar is an allowance at six furlongs. A glance at the recent records of the seven-runner lineup suggests that the race is a stakes in all but name.
For All Mankind, Hejazi, Simple Song, Smooth Cruisein, and Speedy Wilson are stakes-placed, while Captivator and March of Time won allowance races for sprinters in their last starts. Several can win, including Simple Song, who drew the inside post for owner Muir Hut Stables and trainer Mark Glatt.
A winner of 2 of 6 starts, Simple Song was second by 2 1/2 lengths in his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on May 31. Simple Song set a fast pace, including a half-mile in 44.31 seconds, before yielding the front to the heavily favored Stronghold, who pulled clear through the stretch.
“I thought he ran really well,” Glatt said on Thursday. “He got beat by a better horse. He went fast and ran well to hold second.”
:: Play to Win at Del Mar! Get DRF Past Performances, Expert Picks and Clocker Reports
Simple Song is expected to be part of the pace on Friday in what could be a fast first quarter-mile. Hejazi, unraced since a second in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in July 2025, and Captivator, who led throughout a six-furlong allowance race at Santa Anita on June 6, have ample speed.
“This race is fairly tough, it looks like,” Glatt said.
Simple Song won a six-furlong allowance at Santa Anita in March by stalking the early pace. He started from post 6 in a field of seven in that race. An inside post on Friday does not leave many tactical options, Glatt said.
“When you draw the rail and you have a speed horse, there is not much more to do other than get position and stay close,” he said.
Glatt said a successful race from Simple Song on Friday could lead to a start in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 29.
For All Mankind and March of Time were entered in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar last Saturday but were withdrawn in favor of Friday’s allowance race.
For All Mankind, trained by John Sadler, was a fast-closing second at 9-1 in the $100,000 Speightstown Sprint at six furlongs at Lone Star on May 25. March of Time, trained by Bob Baffert for the families of Major League Baseball players Alex Bregman and Walker Buehler, won his first start in nearly 17 months in an allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos on June 28, closing from fifth in a field of eight.
Speedy Wilson, trained by Phil D’Amato, was second in the Bertrando Stakes for statebred milers at Los Alamitos on June 20. A danger from off the pace on Friday, Speedy Wilson won sprint stakes for statebreds at seven furlongs at Del Mar in 2024 and again last year that do not count against his eligibility for this allowance.