Future looks bright for Blue Tone

DEL MAR, Calif. - Blue Tone won the first stakes of his career in Saturday’s $98,650 Brubaker Stakes over a mile and could be back at Del Mar in November for a more lucrative prize.

Trainer Bob Hess Jr. said he hopes to run Blue Tone in the $200,000 Native Diver Handicap over 1 1/8 miles Nov. 29 during the track’s autumn meeting. The Grade 3 Native Diver previously was run at the now-closed Hollywood Park and was worth $150,500 in 2013.

Blue Tone led throughout the Brubaker under jockey Kent Desormeaux. A 5-year-old gelding, Blue Tone has won 4 of 9 starts in his career for the partnership of Beverly Engelberg, Schoeder Farms, and Jan Steeper.

Hess has had an outstanding summer at Del Mar, winning with 11 of his first 49 runners.

Hess thinks that Blue Tone may be a better prospect at 6 and is focused on next year rather than trying to rush into lucrative races in the coming months.

“There is no need to get in a big hurry,” Hess said. “We’ll look at 2015 and plan a course that gets us there. He’s a gelding, and we want to keep him around. We expected great things from him. He’s a star in our barn.”