McCarthy makes summer plans for stakes winners
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Formidable Man, the leading turf miler in California, is booked to start in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes, a race he won last summer, at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 26.
“The Eddie Read looks like the logical spot,” trainer Michael McCarthy said on Sunday.
Formidable Man will be part of a busy stretch for McCarthy, running in stakes for the first two weekends of the meeting. The stable may run Bust Out in the $150,000 Oceanside Handicap for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf on July 17, the opening day of the season, and the star 4-year-old Journalism in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 18.
McCarthy, 55, won five stakes at the 2024 Del Mar summer meeting and four stakes at the 2025 summer meet.
Formidable Man, owned by William and Suzanne Warren, was 2 for 3 at Del Mar last year, including a win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile last August. Formidable Man was second to Notable Speech in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar last November in his final start of 2025.
In his first start this year, Formidable Man won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Santa Anita as the 7-10 favorite on May 25. Formidable Man closed from fourth in a field of eight to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Almendares, another contender for the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes.
On Saturday at Santa Anita, Formidable Man worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, his fourth workout at the distance since the Shoemaker.
“He’s in a rhythm,” McCarthy said.
Flavien Prat rode Formidable Man in the Shoemaker. John Velazquez has been booked to ride Formidable Man in the Eddie Read, McCarthy said.
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Meanwhile, the Oceanside Handicap has different conditions than in recent decades.
The race was previously run with a purse of $100,000 and was restricted to nonwinners of a first-place purse of $50,000 or more at a mile in the year it was run. This year, there is no such restriction, allowing stakes winners such as Bust Out to start.
Bust Out, owned by Tim and Jacob Pegram, won the $98,000 Cinema Stakes, worth $60,000 to the winner, for 3-year-olds at a mile at Santa Anita on May 17.
“He’s possible for the Oceanside,” McCarthy said.
Bust Out was fourth by 4 3/4 lengths in the $265,000 American Derby at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Churchill Downs on June 27 after a wide trip.
“He picked it up through the lane,” McCarthy said.
The race was won by odds-on favorite Alpyland, who prevailed by 3 1/2 lengths. Alpyland is scheduled to start in the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs on Aug. 1, trainer Mark Casse said in a text message on Monday.
Del Mar has altered its schedule for 3-year-olds on turf this year. Aside from the elimination of the restriction for the Oceanside, the track has eliminated the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf, a race that was previously run in early August.
The main race for the division remains the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 23.
The McCarthy-trained Stark Contrast won the Grade 1 American Turf Stakes for 3-year-olds at Churchill Downs on May 2 for his third stakes win. Stark Contrast was held out of the Belmont Derby at Saratoga last weekend and will not race again until later this year, McCarthy said.
“He’ll get the summer off,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy described the reason for the layoff as “growing pains.”
Journalism, best known for winning races such as the Preakness and Haskell Invitational in 2025, was third in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap at Saratoga on June 6. Journalism worked a half-mile in 47.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday, his first workout since the Met Mile. McCarthy described the $300,000 San Diego Handicap as a “possibility” for Journalism.
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