Neptune's Storm will try not to let Kingly get away in Del Mar Derby

DEL MAR, Calif. – Neptune’s Storm missed catching Kingly by a neck in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 4. The loss ended Neptune’s Storm’s two-race stakes winning streak and left trainer Richard Baltas stung.

“The other horse got an easy lead,” he said. “He stole the race.”

When they meet again as part of a field of 10 in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, Baltas hopes to avoid a similar scenario. Kingly, trained by Bob Baffert, is widely expected to set the pace. Neptune’s Storm will be close behind under new jockey Florent Geroux.

The $200,000 Del Mar Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf, giving the advantage to Neptune’s Storm, according to Baltas.

“I think the mile and an eighth is up his alley,” Baltas said on Friday. “I think Geroux will put him in the race.”

Neptune’s Storm has won 4 of 10 starts and earned $279,585, the most wins and earnings of any runner in the Del Mar Derby.

Geroux gained the mount after previous jockey Drayden Van Dyke chose to ride the recent maiden race winner Moody Jim. Van Dyke won two turf stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita earlier this year on Neptune’s Storm – the Singletary Stakes at a mile on April 28, and the Cinema Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on June 2.

“Drayden elected to take the other horse, but that doesn’t bother me,” Baltas said.

Kingly will start from the outside post. He could face pressure from Parsimony, a 15-race maiden who was second by a length in the Cinema Stakes. Parsimony, who was supplemented to the Del Mar Derby for $2,500, was second by a neck in a maiden special weight race at a mile here on Aug. 17 after leading in deep stretch.

Kingly’s win in the La Jolla gave Baffert his first turf stakes win since January 2018. Kingly won the California Derby on the all-weather surface at Golden Gate Fields in April, and lost his next three starts before the La Jolla.

There is no doubt in Baffert’s mind what tactics jockey Mario Gutierrez will use on Kingly.

“He’s very headstrong,” Baffert said. “We just let him roll. He’ll be going fast.”

The Del Mar Derby will be the graded stakes debut of Moody Jim and Nolde.

Moody Jim won a maiden special weight race at 1 1/16 miles on turf by a half-length here July 27, closing from sixth with an impressive kick in the final quarter-mile. That was Moody Jim’s first start in California and second start in the United States. Moody Jim was third in a maiden race at Cork, Ireland, in May in his career debut.

“He’s a good horse,” trainer Jeff Mullins said. “He might be one of the better ones I’ve gotten from over there.”

Nolde was beaten a nose in the restricted Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf July 17 after leading by a half-length in the stretch. He could not hold off Jasikan, who later finished third in the La Jolla. Trainer John Sadler said recently he would not start Jasikan in the Del Mar Derby and that the colt is better at shorter distances.

Trainer John Shirreffs did not start Nolde in the La Jolla to avoid a three-race campaign during Del Mar’s summer meeting.

“He puts a lot into his training in the morning,” Shirreffs said.

Nolde closed from a stalking position to win consecutive starts at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in the spring – a maiden special weight race on May 3 and an optional claimer on June 21. Shirreffs said he has seen continued improvement from Nolde in advance of the Del Mar Derby, the colt’s longest race.

“He’s filled out a little bit and working regularly,” Shirreffs said. “He has a nice stride, so the extra distance will help.”