Klimt, Big League to meet again in Del Mar Futurity

DEL MAR, Calif. – Klimt and Big League, who finished first and second in the Grade 2 Best Pal on Saturday, both will start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day, Sept. 5, according to their trainers.

Klimt gave trainer Bob Baffert a record eighth win in the Best Pal.

“It was a nice, easy race for him,” Baffert said. “They didn’t go that fast early. That Futurity is going to be loaded. Klimt has the right style.”

The Futurity will be headed by Chasing Aces and Straight Fire, who have earned the fastest Beyer Speed Figures among 2-year-olds in the country this year. Peter Miller trains Chasing Aces and Big League and said he “very well could run both in the Futurity.”

Miller was encouraged with the runner-up effort by Big League on Saturday, as he was coming back just two weeks after a debut win against maidens. Klimt was making his third start.

“He was coming back on short rest off one race, and he was giving the winner experience,” Miller said. “He looked a little lost on the lead. We were hoping to sit second or third early, but half the field broke bad.”

First kid for Bejarano’s agent

Tora Yamaguchi and his wife, Christine, last week celebrated the birth of their first child, a boy named Ryan Akira, who checked in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, almost exactly 100 pounds less than what Yamaguchi’s rider, Rafael Bejarano, weighs.

“It was quite an experience, probably the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Yamaguchi, a former racing-office official who took over as Bejarano’s agent when Joe Ferrer retired last year.

Bejarano through Sunday was third in the jockey standings with 20 wins, three back of leader Flavien Prat. Bejarano has a busy weekend on tap, with mounts on Dortmund in the Pacific Classic, Lady Valeur in the Del Mar Oaks, Metaboss in the Del Mar Handicap, and Midnight Storm in the Del Mar Mile.