Inshallah to skip Del Mar Futurity; point to American Pharoah Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – The fastest 2-year-old in California this summer will skip the seven-furlong Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and make next his next start around two turns in fall at Santa Anita.

Inshallah, the $2.1 million Flightline colt who earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure winning his debut Aug. 15, will pass the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 6 and target a Grade 1 route on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita.

“He’s going to run in the American Pharoah,” trainer John Sadler said Sunday. “He’s going to be great at a distance, and it gives me a little more spacing.”

Inshallah showed surprising speed winning his debut at 5 1/2 furlongs, but Sadler is confident the colt is not speed crazy.

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“Training up to it, he had no problem rating,” Sadler said. “The race was different, because he showed so much speed. But his training would indicate he’ll be fine. If you look at his work [Aug.29], he was just as calm as you can be.”

In his debut, Inshallah whistled the first quarter-mile in 21.52 seconds and the half-mile in 44.44 to win by 1 1/2 lengths under Joel Rosario in 1:03.11. The colt’s 90 Beyer Speed Figure is the highest by a 2-year-old this summer at Del Mar and second highest of the year. Kennyten earned a 92 Beyer winning his debut June 12 at Santa Anita.

Local runners expected to enter the Del Mar Futurity include Bob Baffert-trained Grade 3 Best Pal winner Hughes and debut winner Domus. Baffert has won the Del Mar Futurity 19 times. Kennyten and Phone Booth also are expected to enter.

Ala Sawab sidelined after stumble

Ala Sawab, the highly regarded Flightline colt who stumbled and lost his jockey at the start of the first race Saturday, will have his campaign interrupted before it really started. Sadler trains Ala Sawab, the 7-10 favorite who stumbled after the start and unseated Rosario.

“He grabbed his quarter pretty good,” Sadler said Sunday. “He stumbled as bad as a horse can stumble, he had dirt in his face, his nose hit the ground. I don’t think I’ve had [a stumble] that bad.”

Sadler said it is too soon to determine how long it will before Ala Sawab resumes training.

“We have to check him out pretty good, that was pretty severe. We’re going to want to get some good looks at him” before he resumes training.

The first race Saturday was won by Bob Baffert-trained Emancipate, who earned a 57 Beyer.

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