Master Piece a picture of an improving horse entering the Del Mar Handicap
Master Piece was easy to overlook in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 31 at Del Mar. Master Piece drew into the field from the also-eligible list on the morning of the race, had lost his five preceding starts, and broke from the outside post in a field of 10.
Master Piece caught everyone’s attention with his 16-1 upset in the Eddie Read and now runs back as a top contender Saturday in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap.
Master Piece overcame trouble on the second turn of the Eddie Read to win his first graded stakes in the United States. He even survived an objection from a rival trainer alleging interference at the start.
The Read, run at 1 1/8 miles on turf, was worth $252,500. The Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf is worth $300,000, and the winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
“I thought the Eddie Read was fantastic,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “We’re hoping to see the same thing here.”
A 6-year-old who raced earlier in his career in his native Chile, Master Piece is owned by Baalbek Corp., Don Alberto Stable, and Fernando Diaz-Valdes. He is part of a field of 11 in the Del Mar Handicap, the final race on an 11-race program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific.
The Del Mar Handicap has the largest field of the five stakes on Saturday’s blockbuster program and is the last race in the 20-cent Rainbow pick six, which has a mandatory payout.
Master Piece, who will be ridden by Abel Cedillo, closed with a wide rally for second, beaten a half-length, at 22-1 in the 2021 Del Mar Handicap. Before the Eddie Read victory, that race was the closest Master Piece had come to winning a stakes in the United States in six such races. In Chile, Master Piece won two stakes in 2019 and was third in the 2020 Chilean Derby.
McCarthy has seen steady progress from Master Piece in the five weeks since the Read. Thoughts regarding the BC Turf must wait until after Saturday.
“He seems like he’s in a good rhythm,” McCarthy said. “We’ll see where we are after this.”
The field has seven stakes winners, including Red King, who won the 2020 Del Mar Handicap, and Heywoods Beach and Tizamagician, who were first and second in the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on dirt on July 24.
Tizamagician will be ridden for the first time by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. Tizamagician was second in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar last year, run on the same day as the Del Mar Handicap.
Heywoods Beach ran second in a stakes on turf earlier in his career. In his most recent effort on turf, he was fourth of six at 33-1 in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May, run in the quick time of 1:32.40.
“He ran well in the Shoemaker, but a mile in 32 is too much pace,” trainer John Sadler said.
Phil D’Amato trains Red King and three other runners in the Del Mar Handicap in Gold Phoenix, Gregdar, and Masteroffoxhounds.
Masteroffoxhounds, 11th in the 2021 Del Mar Handicap, was third in the Shoemaker and fifth in the Read, his first two starts for D’Amato.
“I think Masteroffoxhounds has the most tactical speed of them all,” D’Amato said. “Gregdar is tactical, but I don’t think he has the speed Masteroffoxhounds has. Gold Phoenix and Red King will be coming from off the pace.”
Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the Del Mar summer meeting, has the mount on Masteroffoxhounds.
“I like the way Masteroffoxhounds came out of the Eddie Read,” D’Amato said. “Juan knows him better. I think the distance is right up his alley. He should run a big race.”
Red King is winless in four starts this year, but was beaten only a head when second after a troubled trip in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at about 1 3/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in June.