Ginobili comes to life, earns Pat O'Brien start

The 4-year-old gelding Ginobili won for the first time in 23 months with a remarkable 9 3/4-length score in a one-mile allowance race last Saturday at Del Mar.

Ginobili earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 104, which trainer Richard Baltas described as “a really nice surprise.”

The victory is likely to lead to his first appearance in a stakes in 18 months in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 28 at Del Mar.

Ginobili was second to Nadal in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita in February 2020, but had only four more starts that year. Ginobili was rested over the winter when he underwent arthroscopic surgery. Ginobili lost his first two starts this year at Santa Anita, finishing eighth and fourth in sprints.

In his recent win, Ginobili was fitted with blinkers for the first time. Ridden by Joe Bravo, Ginobili was third for the first quarter-mile and took the lead on the backstretch, finishing in 1:36.18.

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“I thought he ran fast, but I didn’t know if he’d go that far,” Baltas said. “He put it all together. I think it was a lot of things, the blinkers, the stretch out. He rewarded us.”

Owned by the partnership of Slam Dunk Racing, Jerry McClanahan, Michael Nentwig, and Baltas, Ginobili has won 2 of 12 starts and earned $159,825.