Nominations close for Best Pal, Sorrento

The first graded stakes races for California juveniles of 2022 are next week at Del Mar as the meet reaches the halfway mark. Nominations closed for the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on Aug. 13 and Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds on Aug. 14. The Graduation Stakes for Cal-bred 2-year-olds is Aug. 12; the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for female turf runners is Aug. 13. Below are short previews.

Cal-bred 2-year-olds sprint five and one-half furlongs in the Graduation Stakes on Friday. The 14 nominees include The Big Wam, whose 74 Beyer maiden win tops the list, and speedster Straighten Up, who is cross-nominated to the Best Pal. Favorites won 10 of 22 Graduations since 2000; California Chrome paid $14.40 winning the 2013 Graduation.

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The 13 nominees to the six-furlong Sorrento Stakes on Saturday include stakes winner Absolutely Zero and debut winner Procrastination, whose 74 Beyer tops the list. Others are Vegas Magic, two-for-two winner of the Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton, and Louisiana Downs debut winner Naughty Lottie. who won by 15 lengths with a 71 Beyer.

Since 2000, favorites won 9 of the 22 Sorrentos, a race that has been won by subsequent Grade 1 winners Bellafina (2018) and Champagne Room (2016). The Sorrento leads to the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 10.

The supporting feature Saturday is the Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares at a mile and a sixteenth on turf. The 14 nominees include 2021 Del Mar Oaks winner Going Global and Grade 1 winner Going to Vegas, both trained by Phil D’Amato. Locally based stakes winner Park Avenue and East Coast-based Grade 2 winner Crystal Cliffs also nominated.

The Yellow Ribbon was moved in 2018 from September to early August, and is the first of two graded stakes for Del Mar summer turf fillies and mares. The Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes is on Sept. 10.

The six-furlong Best Pal Stakes on Sunday drew 25 nominees including debut winners Havnameltdown (80 Beyer) and Arman (74). Nominees also include Sharp Aza Tack, who is expected to run on turf next month at Kentucky Downs, and late-runner Agency. Five unraced colts nominated to the Best Pal including $700,000 yearling Truehood, who has been posting bullet workouts for Bob Baffert.

Favorites are 12-for-22 in the Best Pal since 2000. Recent winners include subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist in 2015, and subsequent champion juvenile and Preakness-Haskell winner Lookin At Lucky in 2009.