Oscar Dominguez breaks through in Hollywood Turf Cup

DEL MAR, Calif. – This was a weekend for ex-claimers to shine in turf marathon stakes at Del Mar.

Saturday, the former $8,000 claimer Zuzanna won the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf. Sunday, Oscar Dominguez, claimed four times in 2018 for $40,000 and earlier this year for that amount, won his first stakes in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles.

Trainer Richard Baltas credited Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez for the victory with Oscar Dominguez. The two barely had a strategy talk before the race, Velazquez said.

“He told me to drop in, save ground and make a run,” Valasquez said. "'You read the Form. You figure it out,’ he said. It worked out.”

Velazquez rode Oscar Dominguez for the first time in the $201,755 Hollywood Turf Cup in the 6-year-old gelding’s 37th start.

“It was a great ride,” Baltas said. “He saved all the ground. What am I going to tell a Hall of Fame rider?”

Velazquez positioned Oscar Dominguez at the rear of the field near the rail for the first mile. Last of 10 with a half-mile to go, Velazquez moved Oscar Dominguez off the rail entering the stretch and rallied wide to win by a neck over even-money favorite United, who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Oscar Dominguez ($24.20) was timed in 2:28.17.

United was last with a quarter-mile remaining and closed well from a wide position.

“I should have gotten a little closer on the backside,” jockey Flavien Prat said. “I had to go around. Other than that, I thought he ran his race.”

Ward 'n Jerry (23-1) finished third, followed by Cleopatra’s Strike, Chosen Vessel, Brown Storm, High Promise, Itsinthepost, Overdue, and Zestful.

Oscar Dominguez, an Irish-bred gelding by Zoffany, has won six races and earned $427,630.

Owned by Nancy Messineo and Bruce Sands, Oscar Dominguez was claimed for $40,000 in February. In six subsequent starts, Oscar Dominguez has earned $287,840.

Oscar Dominguez won an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option in May when he was not entered to be claimed. Following that race, Oscar Dominguez was second in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita in June and second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap here in August before a fourth-place finish behind Cleopatra’s Strike in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.