Mixto, Ultra Power need to rebound in Native Diver

DEL MAR, Calif. – A half-dozen handicap division extras will race for a $100,000 purse in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar.

Mixto and Ultra Power figure to attract the most support based on their Aug. 31 efforts at Del Mar – Mixto upset the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, and Ultra Power earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure crushing an entry-level allowance.

Both colts disappointed next out. Mixto was overmatched in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar; he finished 11th at 69-1. Ultra Power supposedly did not handle the Santa Anita surface in a second-level allowance; he finished third at even-money.

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The trainers of Mixto and Ultra Power expect a return to form Saturday in the Native Diver, a 1 1/8-mile race that also attracted Skinner, Mirahmadi, Salesman, and Tarantino.

Doug O’Neill trains Mixto, who was a 22-1 winner of the Pacific Classic. “Obviously a tough spot, it wasn’t his day,” O’Neill said of the BC Classic. He added that jockey Kyle Frey “took care of him, didn’t beat him up, and because of that, he came out of it good.”

Mixto posted a solid work last weekend, and breaks from post six in the six-horse field. Mixto figures for a pressing trip outside front-runners Mirahmadi and Tarantino. Mixto, a 4-year-old whose rider Saturday is Antonio Fresu, is the 125-pound highweight.

Bob Baffert, who has won the last three Native Divers, entered Ultra Power and Mirahmadi. Ultra Power, sired by Curlin and produced by Grade 1 winner Unique Bella, won his comeback Aug. 31 by seven lengths, with that 104 Beyer topping Mixto’s 100 in the Pacific Classic.

Ultra Power was unable to reproduce the effort at Santa Anita. “He was scrambling in his last race,” Baffert said. He believes Ultra Power was uncomfortable on a surface that was deep and slow. “He likes it down here [at Del Mar], and he’s doing really well now,” Baffert said.

If he reproduces his Del Mar allowance, 3-year-old Ultra Power can win the Native Diver under Juan Hernandez. Baffert also entered last-out maiden winner Mirahmadi, passing an entry-level allowance, race 4 Saturday, to run in the Native Diver.

Mirahmadi stretched to a mile last out and won a maiden race by 10 lengths. “I should have stretched him out before,” Baffert acknowledged.

Martin Garcia rides Mirahmadi, who is not likely for another easy front-running trip due to the presence of the speedy Tarantino.

Skinner goes sprint to route, with his second start following an extended layoff. After running second in the 2023 Native Diver, Skinner did not start again until early this month, when he finished second in a comeback sprint. John Shirreffs trains Skinner, third last year in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and scratched from the Kentucky Derby one month later. Hector Berrios rides Skinner.

Tarantino brings plenty of early speed, and is 2 for 2 since he was claimed by Peter Eurton. A 6-year-old gelding, Tarantino upset Ultra Power last out in the entry-level allowance at Santa Anita. Edwin Maldonado rides Tarantino, who will keep Mirahmadi honest on the lead.

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