Laura's Light will test stamina in Del Mar Oaks

DEL MAR, Calif. - In her seven-race career, Laura’s Light has won four stakes on turf at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles.

She won her second stakes at a mile as the favorite in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday.

To pad her record this summer, Laura’s Light’s stamina will be tested in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Aug. 22. Laura’s Light won at the distance in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita on May 30, leading by a length at the eighth pole and holding on for a win by a neck.

The outcome left trainer Peter Miller thinking Laura’s Light might be better at a mile than 1 1/8 miles, a theory that will be tested in the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks.

“We’re going to find out,” Miller said.

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Owned by Gary Barber, Laura’s Light chased a quick pace set by Cheermeister before taking the lead in early stretch. She won by three-quarters of a length over Guitty and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 85.

“The pace was hot and she kept rolling,” Miller said. “The pace is a lot softer at a mile and an eighth.”

The Del Mar Oaks, the leading race of Del Mar’s summer meeting for 3-year-old fillies, will include runners that finished behind Laura’s Light in the San Clemente. The race typically draws fillies from other parts of the United States and possibly Europe. Three of the last five winners of the Del Mar Oaks were from stables based outside of California.

Miller has won or tied for first in the trainer’s standing at three summer meetings at Del Mar, most recently in 2018. Through Saturday, Miller led all trainers with seven wins, three more than Richard Baltas.

“You can never expect to win this many,” Miller said. “We thought we’d do well. We’ve exceded our expectations a little bit. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

The season concludes Sept. 7.

Miller has a majority of his stable at Del Mar, with 12 horses based at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. Next weekend, Miller intends to have starters in two $100,000 stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs for California-bred 2-year-olds – Saturday’s California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes for fillies and Sunday’s Graduation Stakes.

Aside from Laura’s Light, Miller has plans for graded stakes runners in late August. Mo Forza, the winner of three turf stakes for 3-year-olds last fall and winter, is expected to start in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 23 along with The Black Album, a multiple stakes winner that Miller said recently arrived at his stable.

The Black Album, co-owned by Team Valor International and Barber and previously trained by Rodolphe Brisset, won the Jonathan Schuster Memorial Stakes at Indiana Grand on July 8 in his 2020 debut.

C Z Rocket, who was claimed for $40,000 in April and has since won three consecutive starts, is a candidate for the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 29. Owned by Tom Kagele, C Z Rocket won an allowance race with a $150,000 claiming option at Keeneland at 6 1/2 furlongs in track-record time of 1:15 on July 12.