Mi Hermano Ramon to ‘get a little break' before winter racing
?q=100)
DEL MAR, Calif. – Two-time stakes winner Mi Hermano Ramon will miss Sunday’s Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar and will not resume racing until the winter at Santa Anita.
Trainer Mark Glatt said Sunday that Mi Hermano Ramon will “get a little break.”
“He’s a little tired,” Glatt said. “He shipped and ran a few times this year. He’s a gelding, and we’ll freshen him and point for the Santa Anita winter meeting.”
The Santa Anita winter-spring meeting begins Dec. 26.
A 5-year-old, Mi Hermano Ramon has won 4 of 14 starts and earned $488,640. Last November, he won the most prestigious race of his career in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar.
Mi Hermano Ramon, who races for Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal, is winless in his last five starts, including a fourth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January, a second-place finish by a neck in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 26 at Santa Anita, and a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes on June 28 at Churchill Downs.
The list of nominees for the $250,000 Eddie Read includes the last two winners of the race – Gold Phoenix in 2023 and Johannes last year. Gold Phoenix and Balnikhov, who was second in 2023 and third last year, will start, trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday.
Johannes is not a certain runner, according to trainer Tim Yakteen. Johannes, unraced since a win in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita last December, is under consideration for the Grade 1 Fourstardave Stakes, a $750,000 race at a mile on turf on Aug. 2 at Saratoga.
Yakteen said Sunday that he planned to discuss the options with owner Joe McCloskey early this week. Entries for the Eddie Read will be taken Thursday. Johannes worked five furlongs on dirt in 59.80 seconds on Sunday.
“We’ll drill down and make our final, final decision,” Yakteen said. “We’re running out of time.”
The Eddie Read is the main race Sunday at Del Mar. There are three stakes on Saturday – the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs, the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 Daisycutter Handicap for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.