Impressive maiden winner Eight Rings will be major player in Del Mar Futurity

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Best Pal on Saturday is the final prep for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day, Sept. 2. The Futurity favorite may have been revealed on Sunday at Del Mar when Eight Rings scored an overpowering victory in his debut, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 94.

Eight Rings, a son of Empire Maker, was purchased as a yearling for $520,000 by a partnership of SF Racing, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing, which sent a score of 2-year-olds to trainer Bob Baffert this year.

“He looked good, didn’t he?” Baffert said.

Eight Rings’s groom is Enrique “Lalo” Luna, who also was the groom of Baffert’s Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah and Justify.

Baffert has won the Futurity a record 14 times, with his first victory in 1996 with Silver Charm, and his most recent last year with eventual Eclipse Award winner Game Winner. Luna is the groom of Game Winner, too.