Om has speed and talent edge in Hollywood Derby
The horse to beat in Saturday’s $300,000 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar is the one to catch.
Om, trained by Dan Hendricks, has emerged in recent months as the leading 3-year-old on turf in Southern California, and he will be the favorite in a competitive running of the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles.
Om won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in September and the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita in October, and Hendricks expects him to run well again on Saturday.
“I’m confident with the way he’s training,” Hendricks said. “It’s our race to lose.”
The Hollywood Derby is the featured race on a nine-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The program includes the $150,000 Native Diver Stakes for older horses on dirt and the $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf.
Saturday’s program is part of the final weekend of the Del Mar autumn meeting, which ends Sunday. The Los Alamitos winter meeting begins Dec. 3.
The Hollywood Derby drew 15 but will have only 14 starters. Acceptance, the champion California-bred 2-year-old male of 2014, was on the also-eligible list. The starters were determined by preference for winners of Grade 1 or Grade 2 races this year, horses who have placed in such races, Grade 3 winners this year, and finally earnings in non-claiming races.
The only Grade 1 winner in the field is the lone filly, Sharla Rae, who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in August but was last of 10 in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31. New York-based trainer Chad Brown has four runners, including the 2015 stakes winners March and Offering Plan.
KEY CONTENDERS
Om (Last 3 Beyers: 97-97-95)
◗ Om, who races for K.B. Sareen, was not challenged in the Del Mar Derby or Twilight Derby, both run at 1 1/8 miles. He set the pace in both races and won each by 2 1/4 lengths.
“He’s got so much natural speed that he can carry over a distance of ground,” Hendricks said. “He’s training really well and maturing every day.”
◗ In the Twilight Derby, Om beat Mister Brightside and Royal Albert Hall, who are part of the Hollywood Derby field. Hendricks thinks Om gave a better performance in the Twilight Derby than the Del Mar Derby.
“He seemed more relaxed on the front end and kicked even stronger than [in the Del Mar Derby],” he said. “I thought it was an improvement. I can’t ask for more than that.”
◗ Acceptance has raced on the lead, but since he might not run, Hendricks expects Om to show the way.
“On paper, they don’t show the speed he has,” Hendricks said. “Who knows in a 14-horse field if someone will try to go out there with him?”
Offering Plan (Last 3 Beyers: 99-82-80)
◗ Offering Plan has won two of three starts this year in a campaign that began at Saratoga in August. He rates as the strongest chance of the four Brown-trained runners.
◗ In the English Channel Stakes at a mile on turf at Belmont Park on Oct. 25, Offering Plan rallied from seventh in a field of eight to win the first stakes of his career.
Closing Bell (Last 3 Beyers: 92-93-93)
◗ The Hollywood Derby will be Closing Bell’s fifth consecutive race on a different turf course. Trained by Bill Mott, Closing Bell was second in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park. He won the Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs in September and was a troubled second in the Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 30.
Vigilante (Last 3 Beyers: 85-87-80)
◗ The Hollywood Derby will be the stakes debut for Vigilante, who was supplemented to the race for $3,000.
◗ Owned by Gary and Mary West, Vigilante won an allowance race on turf at Keeneland on Oct. 21 for trainer Wayne Catalano. The colt was transferred to trainer Phil D’Amato earlier this week.
“Wayne said he’s the kind of horse that places himself early,” D’Amato said. “He’ll tell you when he’ll run, and he comes with a big late run.”
Sharla Rae (Last 3 Beyers: 84-91-95)
◗ The Hollywood Derby will be Sharla Rae’s first start against males and her 16th start.
◗ Trainer Doug O’Neill is hoping for a repeat of her win in the Del Mar Oaks and not her loss in the BC Filly and Mare Turf.
“Her biggest win was here, and she’s doing well,” he said. “Between the distance and for 3-year-olds only, it fits her. We’re putting a line through [the Breeders’ Cup]. She acts like she’s going to run a big one.”