O’Neill caps summer with stakes triple

DEL MAR, Calif. – Doug O’Neill won more stakes than any trainer at the Del Mar meeting, and he finished the summer season Monday with a win in the Del Mar Futurity with Nyquist only hours after stablemate Ralis won the Hopeful at Saratoga.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” O’Neill said Tuesday morning. “It was a tremendous meet. Del Mar’s so unique. The competition is so strong, and you’ve got horses shipping in for stakes. I’m proud of my whole team – the owners, the staff.”

Both Nyquist and Ralis are owned by Paul Reddam, who led all owners in wins at Del Mar. O’Neill said he and Reddam were to discuss upcoming plans for Nyquist and Ralis, but said both came out of their respective races in good shape. Ralis was scheduled to fly back to California on Wednesday.

“Ideally, I’d like to keep them away from each other,” O’Neill said.

The premier 2-year-old race on this circuit leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Oct. 31 at Keeneland is the Grade 1, $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 26. Options out of town include the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and Champagne Stakes at Belmont.

O’Neill won three races Monday, including the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf with British import Jakaby Jade, who was making her first start in this country.

She is a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The main local prep for that race is the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes on Oct. 10 at Santa Anita.