Record overnight purses, bonuses lure new trainers to Del Mar
Del Mar wore down trainer Robertino Diodoro.
In recent years, California track officials, notably Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens, badgered Diodoro about re-establishing a stable on the West Coast for the first time since 2016. The sustained strategy worked. Diodoro will have approximately 20 horses at the Del Mar summer meeting that begins Friday.
“To be honest, any time a racetrack and California puts in an effort to revive their racing, it’s hard not to help,” Diodoro said earlier this week. “A big part of it was David Jerkens. He has been sending me texts, phone calls, and emails for the last three years.”
While a public-relations campaign helped, enhanced prize money was another leading factor in Diodoro’s decision. Del Mar is offering record overnight purses this year, as well as an enhanced bonus program for horses shipped to the state from other circuits. A majority of Diodoro’s runners will qualify for the bonuses.
The purses have led Jack Sisterson to relocate his stable from Kentucky to California, and for Florida-based Patrick Biancone to send a small stable to Del Mar for the first time since 2015.
Biancone’s team includes the graded stakes-winning sprinter Diamond Oops.
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“We’ve finally got horses that should be competitive,” he said.
While those trainers have a presence on the national scene, there will be an influx of stables from Northern California that will provide a much-needed boost to the roster of race-ready horses.
Of the 10 leading trainers at the Golden Gate Fields winter-spring meeting that ended in June, six will have stables at Del Mar – Jonathan Wong, Isidro Tamayo, Tim McCanna, Andy Mathis, Blaine Wright, and Jamey Thomas. Other Northern California trainers are expected to have runners at Del Mar, which runs through Sept. 11.
The Northern California trainers are not visiting Del Mar for the sunshine. Tamayo finished second in the standings to Wong at Golden Gate earlier this year. At Del Mar last summer, Tamayo won with 2 of 9 runners, Wong with 4 of 46 starters.
Wong will have 40 runners at Del Mar this summer, continuing his year-round commitment to race throughout the state. Tamayo plans to have a 10-horse stable at Del Mar.
“I’ll try to outdo last year,” Tamayo said. “Just winning one was special. Winning two was sweet.”
Late summer is a good time of year for Northern California-based trainers to diversify their stables through the state. The fair circuit is based at Sacramento until the end of this month, followed by a two-week meeting at Santa Rosa in the first half of August. Golden Gate Fields begins a late summer and early autumn meeting later in August.
“You have to take a shot, if you have people that want to go,” Tamayo said of racing at Del Mar. “We know it’s tough to compete at Del Mar.”
Ultimately, the 36-year-old trainer would like to have a year-round presence in Southern California.
“I wish I could have a barn at Santa Anita,” he said. “That’s my goal, too. You have to have the people behind you. Making that move is not easy. You have to have the stock.”
Some of the new runners will provide much-needed starters in dirt races, a division that has slumped in recent years as many stables focus on turf racing. Diodoro estimated that 18 of his 20 runners are dirt horses.
Sisterson, 37, will have a mix of dirt and turf runners with a 25-horse stable that will evolve in coming days with a shipment of three 3-year-olds from Europe, including Kingmax, who is a candidate for the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 3. Kingmax was third in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on June 16 at Royal Ascot.
Sisterson is hoping the stable can expand to a greater number in coming weeks.
“I may have to beg for a couple of stalls,” he said.
Sisterson was previously a private trainer for Calumet Farm and retains runners for that famous stable as well as for other clients. The Calumet-owned Tango Tango Tango, second in the Grade 2 Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico in May, may run in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 31.
“I’ve got to thank Calumet for continuing to support me,” he said. “They’ve allowed me to keep a lot of their good horses.”
After Del Mar, Sisterson and Diodoro said they plan to remain in California for the Santa Anita autumn meeting. Sisterson, a former assistant to California-based trainer Doug O’Neill, said he will have runners at Keeneland and Santa Anita this fall.
“I think we’ll definitely have a presence in California,” he said.
Diodoro, who was a fixture in Southern California a decade ago, said he would like to have approximately 12 horses at Santa Anita this winter. The first objective is success at Del Mar with horses new to the circuit.
“Well run them aggressively and take advantage of the Ship and Win,” he said of the bonus program. “We’ll play the claiming game. We’re not there just for the Del Mar meet. We’ll be going to Santa Anita after. The first step is to win our share of races.”