Humboldt County Marathon closes out Ferndale meet

A detour to Del Mar earlier this month may have been a perfect prep for Honos Man in advance of Sunday’s $20,000 Humboldt County Marathon in Ferndale on Sunday.

Honos Man, the winner of the 2021 Humboldt County Marathon, finished sixth of 10, beaten 4 3/4 lengths, in an allowance race at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 5. Earlier this summer, Honos Man won a $25,000 claimer and was third in an allowance race at Pleasanton in late June and early July.

In the seven-runner Humboldt County Marathon at 1 5/8 miles, Honos Man has a formidable rival in Colonelsdarktemper, who was fourth by 11 1/2 lengths in a $40,000 claimer at a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 18, the day he was taken by Jonathan Wong on behalf of Scott Herbertson.

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The field includes Canyon Crest, who was second in the 2021 Humboldt County Marathon and will be a longshot in this field.

Since their last starts at Del Mar, Honos Man and Colonelsdarktemper have been vanned 735 miles to Ferndale, the northernmost track in the state, for Sunday’s distance test. Because of the track’s small circumference, the field passes the finish line four times in the Humboldt County Marathon.

Honos Man, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Quinn Howey for Leon Scott, and Colonelsdarktemper, an 8-year-old with career earnings of $1,041,940, share topweight of 126 pounds.

Colonelsdarktemper won the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at 1 1/8 miles at Mountaineer Park in 2017, and was second or third in three other Grade 3 stakes that year at Churchill Downs, Indiana Grand, and Parx Racing.

Earlier this year, Colonelsdarktemper won a $32,000 claimer at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs. This will be Colonelsdarktemper’s first start at 1 5/8 miles, but the distance should not be an issue. Colonelsdarktemper won an optional claimer at 1 1/4 miles last September at Churchill Downs in a race in which he was eligible to be claimed for $62,500.

Sunday’s program is the closing day of the two-week Humboldt county fair meeting. A late-summer meeting at Golden Gate Fields began on Friday and continues through Oct. 2 before the Big Fresno Fair begins a two-week meeting on Oct. 7.