Past Eddie Read winners meet credentialed stablemates
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Formidable Man and Gold Phoenix have won two of the last three runnings of the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar, which will be held on Sunday.
To gain a second victory in the $250,000 turf race at 1 1/8 miles, they will not only need to contend with each other, but also stablemates with valid credentials.
Formidable Man, trained by Michael McCarthy, and Gold Phoenix, trained by Phil D’Amato, were the outstanding winners of graded stakes in their last starts at Santa Anita.
Formidable Man won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf on May 25. Gold Phoenix won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at about 1 3/4 miles on turf on June 14.
In the Read, McCarthy also starts Mondego, winner of the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on May 2, while D’Amato runs Almendares, a good second to Formidable Man in the Shoemaker Mile.
Mondego has won two of his last three starts, including the Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in February. McCarthy said his chances on Sunday should not be underestimated.
“If he runs a blinder, he’s right there as well,” McCarthy said. “He’s had a great year at Santa Anita.”
Almendares won the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar last summer, and the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on April 18. In January, he was third by 1 1/4 lengths in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park, his last start at the distance.
Almendares closed from last of eight to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind Formidable Man in the Shoemaker Mile.
“Distance-wise, between a mile and a mile and eighth is his mode right now,” D’Amato said. “I think he merits a chance.”
The Shoemaker Mile was Formidable Man’s first start since a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar last November, performances that will make him a very deserving favorite in the nine-runner Read.
The field includes the stakes winners Astronomer, Cabo Spirit, Mi Hermano Ramon, Seal Team, and Stay Hot.
The Shoemaker Mile win left McCarthy impressed.
“To be able to come off an extended break and not miss a day’s training and have six works and fire a big one like he did in the Shoemaker says a lot,” McCarthy said.
Since the Shoemaker, Formidable Man has had an additional six works in a training pattern that McCarthy describes as “very good.”
Owned by William and Suzanne Warren, Formidable Man adores Del Mar, with six wins in seven starts on the track’s turf course, including the 2025 Read. A 5-year-old horse, he has repeatedly displayed a tactical style of stalking the pace before unleashing a quarter-mile run that has led to 9 wins in 17 career starts.
John Velazquez, who rode Formidable Man in the BC Mile, has the mount on Sunday. Flavien Prat rode Formidable Man in the Shoemaker Mile, and is riding at Saratoga on Sunday.
Gold Phoenix, who won the 2023 Read, was an easy winner by five lengths in the San Juan Capistrano Stakes, his 10th stakes win.
Gold Phoenix has won 5 of 10 career starts at Del Mar. An 8-year-old gelding, Gold Phoenix has won the last four runnings of the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf, run in late August or early September. The same race on Aug. 29 is a goal.
D’Amato is taking a cautious approach regarding Gold Phoenix’s chances in the Read.
“He has won this race in the past,” he said. “I think he’s proven to be more of a marathon specialist as he’s gotten older.”
A start in the Eddie Read is preferred over a series of works leading to the Del Mar Handicap, D’Amato said.
“He can get a good race under his belt so I don’t have to breeze him eight times before the Del Mar Handicap,” D’Amato said.
“If he gets there great, if not that’s quite all right.”
Both Formidable Man and Gold Phoenix have a chance to make Del Mar history in the Read, the ninth race on an 11-race program. Should either win they would become the first horse in track history to win six career stakes. They are currently tied with Admirably, Flawlessly, How Now, and Midnight Storm.
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