Itsinthepost resting up for Del Mar

ARCADIA, Calif. – Itsinthepost has earned a brief rest after winning his fourth Grade 2 stakes of 2018 in the Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf last Saturday.

Trainer Jeff Mullins said the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on Aug. 18 is a late summer goal for Itsinthepost, who is owned by Jed Cohen’s Red Barons Barn.

“I think I’ll give him a little bit of a break,” Mullins said.

The $200,345 Whittingham Stakes was Itsinthepost’s seventh stakes win, all since late March 2017. His only loss in five starts this year has been a third in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland on April 21.

There are no immediate plans to send Itsinthepost out of California this summer, Mullins said.

“We’ll be happy if we can continue where he is,” Mullins said.

There are four more Grade 2 turf stakes between 1 1/8 miles and 1 1/2 miles in Southern California through Thanksgiving weekend – the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar on July 22; the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap; the John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita in late September or early October; and the Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Del Mar in late November.

River Boyne, the winner of the Pasadena Stakes for Mullins in March, has resumed serious training following a fifth in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 5. River Boyne was found to be ill after the race, Mullins said. River Boyne worked a half-mile in 49.20 seconds last Friday.

“His next work will tell us what to do,” Mullins said. “We’ve got a lot of options.”