None Above the Law points to fall turf campaign
DEL MAR, Calif. - After four stakes wins on synthetic, dirt, and turf courses, None Above the Law will have a turf campaign this fall on the strength of his win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby.
None Above the Law has won four stakes this year at distances ranging from seven furlongs on dirt to the $254,000 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
In coming months, turf races at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds such as the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on Oct. 31 and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 27 are planned, trainer Peter Miller said Sunday morning.
“We’ll probably keep him with 3-year-olds,” Miller said. “I think it makes the most sense.”
None Above the Law has won 6 of 14 starts and has earned $454,060 for owner and breeder Kirk Robison, who races as Downstream Racing.
Earlier at the Del Mar summer meeting, None Above the Law was ninth by three lengths in the Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf on July 16, and was a convincing winner by 5 1/4 lengths in the $175,000 Real Good Deal Stakes for statebreds at seven furlongs on dirt on July 30.
In the spring at Golden Gate Fields, None Above the Law won consecutive starts in $77,250 stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile in the Silky Sullivan Stakes for statebreds on the synthetic track and the Alcatraz Stakes on turf against open company.
“He’s a cool horse,” Miller said.
In the Del Mar Derby, None Above the Law was ridden for the first time by Joe Bravo, who kept the gelding on the rail throughout. Sent off at 10-1, None Above the Law was fifth on the turn and fourth with a furlong remaining. None Above the Law won by three-quarters of a length over 12-1 Flashiest, the winner of the Oceanside Stakes.
Miller described Bravo’s effort as a “great ride.”
“You tell the guys to save ground and 90 percent of the time they don’t,” Miller said. “Joe saved every inch of ground and we needed it.”
Miller, the leading trainer at the Del Mar summer meeting, won the 2019 Twilight and Hollywood derbies with Mo Forza, who is rated as California’s top turf miler. Mo Forza won the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 21 in his 2021 debut.
A six-time stakes winner, Mo Forza is a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 6 and is scheduled to have a prep race in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita on Oct. 2. On Saturday, Mo Forza worked a half-mile in 49.80 seconds at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in his first workout since the Del Mar Mile.
Last Thursday, Miller was fined $1,500 by Del Mar stewards after Mo Forza tested in excess of the permitted level of the analgesic bute in a workout on June 19 at San Luis Rey Downs.
Officially, Mo Forza worked 38.60 seconds in his first recorded workout of the year that day. Miller said Sunday the workout was at two furlongs, but because Mo Forza was given a time for a three-furlong workout, which he said included a gallop-out, the exercise drew the attention of racing officials who conducted a post-workout test that revealed the overage.