O'Neill equals own single-day win record at Del Mar
DEL MAR, Calif. – The winners arrived early and late for trainer Doug O’Neill at Del Mar on Wednesday.
O’Neill won five of the seven races to equal a single-day record for wins in a day at Del Mar that he set in 2015.
From a surprise win by So Gucci ($49.20) in Wednesday’s first race to Ocean Fury’s win at $6.20 as the second choice in the final race, O’Neill had a brilliant day with seven runners.
“It was an awesome day,” he said on Thursday. “I thought we had a couple of good chances, but I didn’t seen it coming.”
None of O’Neill’s winners was favored. After So Gucci won the first race, O’Neill won with his next three starters – Oil Can Knight ($24.60) in the third race, Vegan ($15.80) in the fourth, and Convince ($15.40) in the fifth. Convince drew into the race from the also-eligible list.
Four riders accounted for the five wins – Evin Roman, Abel Cedillo, and Mario Gutierrez each won once, while Bejarano rode Convince and Ocean Fury.
“Bejarano had a couple of rides that were Hall of Fame quality,” O’Neill said. “We had some huge jockey help.”
The five-win day vaulted O’Neill into a tie for the lead in the trainer standings with Peter Miller through Wednesday. Both won nine races in the first 11 days of the 36-day meeting.
Saturday, O’Neill has five runners in four races, most notably Comical in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs. Comical, unbeaten in two starts, won the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes at Saratoga on July 11 in her stakes debut.
O’Neill plans to have runners in several of the track’s leading races. The multiple stakes winner Pavel is a candidate for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 17, while the recent maiden race winner A Thousand Dreams is likely to run in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on Sept. 2, the closing day of the summer meeting.
On Sept. 2, Defense Wins, second in a maiden special weight here on July 21, may start in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity for 2-year-olds at seven furlongs.
