Lovingier, Solis to run two in Graduation Stakes
Trainer Walther Solis and owner-breeder Terry Lovingier entered three, will run two, and are hoping one gets home on top in the $100,000 Graduation Stakes, the supporting feature on Sunday at Del Mar.
The 5 1/2-furlong Graduation, race 6 on the 10-race card, is restricted to California-breds. Four of the six entered are sons of Stay Thirsty, including all three for Solis and Lovingier.
Only two will run. Solis on Friday morning said that Thirsty Always would remain in the Best Pal against open company on Saturday, leaving Mr. T’s Thirsty and Rock N Rye to represent the barn in the abbreviated field of five colts, all of whom will carry 120 pounds.
Mr. T’s Thirsty drew the rail, but has the speed to overcome it. He most recently pressed a hot pace before fading to fourth behind stablemate Thirsty Always in the Everett Nevin at Pleasanton on July 10. That race was his third in four weeks, and he regressed to a Beyer Speed Figure of 52 after earning a 64 when defeating maidens in his prior start at Los Alamitos.
“He was a little tired. Three races in less than a month,” Solis said. “Now he’s fresh. If he’s not on the lead, he’ll be right there. He’s quick.”
Rock N Rye was a runaway winner against statebred maidens on May 30 at Santa Anita in his most recent start, earning a Beyer Figure of 72, tops in this field.
“We’ve always liked him, since he was a weanling,” Solis said. “He’s a cool horse. He acts like an older horse.”
Solis said that’s a trait he’s found with offspring of Stay Thirsty.
“They have a good mind on them,” he said. “And they’re all runners.”
Another son of Stay Thirsty, Trip to Spain, looms the main threat to the Solis and Lovingier pair. Trip to Spain cruised to a 4 1/4-length victory on debut July 25 at Golden Gate, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 66. He will have to reproduce that form on dirt, and he’s coming back in just two weeks.
Northvale Road beat open company at Pleasanton in his third and most recent start, but will need to improve off the career-best 48 Beyer he earned that day.
Fowler Blue is winless in three starts.