Mathis off to flying start at Del Mar
With five wins from his first 18 runners, trainer Andy Mathis has had a sharp start to the Del Mar summer meeting.
“Should I stop and leave right now?” Mathis said on Thursday.
Mathis, 43, spends most of the year in Northern California, but he is staying at Del Mar through the end of the meeting on Sept. 11.
“This is a business when you can go cold or hot and go back and forth,” he said. “When I was looking before the meeting, I didn’t really see a big bang like that coming. It’s a good place to get hot.”
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Mathis’s win total since opening day on July 22 is ahead of pace from recent years. Mathis had six wins at the 2018 Del Mar summer meeting and four in 2019 and 2021. In 2020, a summer meeting hampered by the early months of the pandemic, Mathis was 0 for 2.
Mathis has chances to add to his total in coming days when The Little H Man starts in an allowance race for California-breds at six furlongs on Friday, and Just a Little Luck starts in a maiden race for California-bred 2-year-old fillies on Saturday. The first-time starter Goldensunrise, by Goldencents, is an intended runner in a maiden race for California-bred 2-year-olds on Sunday.
The Little H Man won a six-furlong $50,000 starter allowance for by three lengths at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton on July 9 for his second win in 12 starts. The win ended a seven-race losing streak.
Similar to Del Mar, Pleasanton has a dirt main track. The Little H Man had raced on the synthetic main track at Golden Gate Fields for most of his previous starts. The win at Pleasanton gave Mathis confidence to try Del Mar with The Little H Man, who races for Quattro Piedi Stable.
“I was happy with the way he ran on the dirt,” Mathis said. “He came up the rail at Pleasanton, which was not always the most favorable place.
“I think if you get the right setup, he can win closing on the outside. Based on his last race, I would say he’s got a shot.”
The Little H Man is part of a field of 12 in the last of eight races on a program that begins at 4 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
At Pleasanton, The Little H Man closed from third in a field of eight. In Friday’s race, The Little H Man must beat Nice Guy Clay, the winner of a maiden race in his debut at Los Alamitos on June 26 for trainer Brian Koriner, and Gold Rush Candy, a one-time winner in three starts for trainer Bob Baffert who has quick works in recent weeks. Gold Rush Candy was fourth after a slow start in a similar race at Santa Anita on June 11.
While Mathis remains active at Del Mar, some of the stable's runners are migrating back to Golden Gate Fields, which begins its late summer meeting on Aug. 26.
Jimmy Blue Jeans was eighth of 11 in the California Dreamin’ Stakes for statebreds on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 6 and is likely to have his next start in the $50,000 Sam Spear Memorial Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Golden Gate Fields on Sept. 5.
“I think the timing is good,” Mathis said. “We don’t have a bunch of options. We can catch a slightly easier horse than he’s been facing.”
Change of post times
Del Mar is changing post times for several racing days in the final weeks of the summer meeting.
Beginning Aug. 19, first post times on Fridays will be 3 p.m. Pacific instead of the current 4 p.m. start time. The change will occur because of earlier sunsets.
The meeting continues through Sept. 11.
In September, racing on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays and the Labor Day program on Sept. 5 will be 1 p.m. instead of the current schedule of 2 p.m.