Oceanside just the starting point for top contenders
DEL MAR, Calif. – Overflow fields in every turf race on Friday’s opening-day card at Del Mar bode well for the remainder of the summer. And anyway, the second half of the season is the main goal for top contenders in Friday’s $100,000 Oceanside Stakes.
The four grass races Friday attracted 57 entrants, including 16 in the one-mile Oceanside, the first of three summer turf stakes for 3-year-olds, along with the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 6 and the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 4.
Moonlight Drive merits horse-to-beat status in the Oceanside, even if it is his first start back from a romping win in his U.S. debut five months ago.
“I haven’t trained him like it’s a million-dollar race,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “This will get him ready for the next one.”
Same with the comebacking stakes winner Path of David, who was given five months off to grow up.
“He’s a different horse,” trainer Kristin Mulhall said. “He’s big, he’s filled out. Our ultimate goal is the Del Mar Derby. I wouldn’t say he’s 100 percent cranked up.”
The deep Oceanside field includes five stakes winners – Path of David, Dressed in Hermes, Hollywood Don, Arcature, and Mr. Roary. Ebadan finished third against good older allowance foes last out, and Monster Bea ships in following a big allowance win at Churchill Downs.
Fourteen can start in the Oceanside, although the field will be smaller after scratches. A first-level turf allowance for 3-year-olds is scheduled for Saturday; six Oceanside entrants are eligible to the allowance.
OCEANSIDE STAKES, race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Moonlight Drive, by Red Rocks
Beyer: 86
◗ An unspecified setback ended the European import’s U.S. campaign after his allowance victory in February at Santa Anita.
“We had to stop on him – it was minor,” Baffert said. “He’s coming back well. He’s a light-bodied horse. He doesn’t need a lot.”
◗ The form of Moonlight Drive’s allowance has been validated. The second- and third-place finishers returned to finish second in stakes; the fourth- and sixth-place finishers returned to win. Moonlight Drive is the 7-2 favorite on track linemaker Russ Hudak’s early line.
◗ Baffert was on a roll when Santa Anita ended Sunday, having gone 11 for 23 over the past three weeks. Baffert and Moonlight Drive’s jockey, Rafael Bejarano, were 7 for 13 together in the past month.
Dressed in Hermes, by Hat Trick
Last 3 Beyers: 85-83-83
◗ Janet Armstrong trains Dressed in Hermes, the field’s only two-time stakes winner. Dressed in Hermes won the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar in fall and the Pasadena at Santa Anita in March.
◗ His two most recent starts were off-the-board finishes against top company at Churchill Downs and Belmont.
“He didn’t really have an excuse,” Armstrong said regarding his last-out sixth in a Grade 3 at Belmont.
Dressed in Hermes actually ran well. When the late runners threatened to swallow him at the head of the lane, Dressed in Hermes kicked on and finished with the bunch. He was gaining at the wire and missed by less than two lengths.
“He’s kind of a tricky horse – he’s push-button, but you have to push the button at the right time,” Armstrong said.
◗ Dressed in Hermes is reunited Friday with jockey Mike Smith, who rode him to both stakes wins.
◗ As for his current condition, Armstrong said on Tuesday: “He looks good. He was squealing coming off the track.”
Arcature, by Archarcharch
Last 3 Beyers: 83-89-87
◗ A stakes winner at one mile two starts back, Arcature finished eighth last out at 1 1/8 miles. It was the second time he lost his punch late at the distance.
“We think that he’s better at a mile,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “He’s out of a Tale of the Cat mare; a mile and an eighth might just be too far.”
◗ In three starts at the one-mile distance of the Oceanside, Arcature has two wins and a fourth.
◗ Flavien Prat rides.
Hollywood Don, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 71-71-68
◗ Winner of a Del Mar turf stakes last summer and third to Nyquist in a Grade 1 on dirt last fall, Hollywood Don is making his first start as a 3-year-old after being sidelined with a chip in a hind ankle.
“He’s training great,” trainer Peter Miller said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked.” Miller did allow for the likelihood that “he could be in need of a race.”
◗ Brice Blanc will ride.
Path of David, by Istan
Last 3 Beyers: 64-81-80
◗ He won a turf stakes in December at Santa Anita, finished sixth in a Grade 2 on dirt in February, and then was given time by Mulhall.
“He was always kind of immature and weak behind,” Mulhall said. “We gave him time to fill out and grow up. He’s a big horse.”
◗ Tyler Baze rides.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Diplodocus. Trainer Richard Baltas is 47-11-3-5 with a $3.20 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf in routes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Moonlight Drive. Trainer Bob Baffert is 63-7-9-10 with a $0.68 ROI over the past five years in stakes races on turf. – Mike Hogan