Om captures Del Mar Derby

DEL MAR, Calif. – Om finally will be known for more than beating American Pharoah in American Pharoah’s debut, as Om became a derby winner himself on Sunday with an emphatic, front-running victory in the Grade 2, $250,500 Del Mar Derby.

Om ($15) never had raced beyond 1 1/16 miles, and never had won beyond a mile, but jockey Gary Stevens nursed him along on the front end of the 1 1/8-mile grass race for 3-year-olds, and Om had plenty left when they turned into the lane. He spurned a bid from odds-on favorite Prospect Park, and then kicked clear and reported home 1 1/4 lengths better than Royal Albert Hall, who rallied from last in the seven-horse field to take second.

Prospect Park, who flattened out in the lane, was third, beaten 4 3/4 lengths, and he was followed, in order, by Crittenden, Soul Driver, Papacoolpapacool, and Win the Space.

Om set fractions of 23.58 seconds, :47.71, 1:11.86, and 1:35.76 en route to a final time of 1:47.79 on the firm course. The win was his third in seven starts, and his first in a stakes race.

“We pointed to this race for two months,” said winning trainer Dan Hendricks, who said many factors contributed to the win, including the ride by Stevens and the decision to remove blinkers from Om for the first time.

“He was very immature last year,” Hendricks said. “Now he’s a mature horse and he doesn’t need them.”

Om, a son of Munnings, ran twice last year, his second start being the most notable, as he recorded a runaway victory at the expense of, among others, American Pharoah, who was making his debut that day.

“He’s gone on to another plateau,” Hendricks said of the Triple Crown winner. “We’re trying to catch up.”

Various nagging injuries kept Om sidelined from that maiden win until April. He won his second start after returning – in a one-mile grass race at Santa Anita on May 10 – and it was then that Hendricks said the decision was made to make the Del Mar Derby the focal point of the next few months.

“He’s what I would call a really old-school horse,” Hendricks said. “He’s just a coarse, tough, good-feeling horse.”

Hendricks had won the Santa Anita Derby with Brother Derek, and the Hollywood Derby with Daytona, so this completed a personal sweep of the major derbies that have been run on this circuit.

“This was my dream to win this race and it really means a lot to me,” Hendricks said, “as much as my Santa Anita Derby.”

Om was purchased by the Sareen Family Trust as a 2-year-old in training for $125,000. He earned $150,000 on Sunday to bring his career earnings to $274,500.