River Boyne can add Grade 1 win to resume in Hollywood Derby

DEL MAR, Calif. – River Boyne punches way above his weight class. There’s not much to him physically, but about half his body weight must be his heart.

The mighty mite has won six of his last eight starts, most recently the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. He owns victories in Grade 3 and Grade 2 races, and on Saturday at Del Mar he’ll make his first bid to win a Grade 1 race in the $300,000 Hollywood Derby.

The Hollywood Derby, at 1 1/8 miles on turf, is the last chance this year for male 3-year-old grass runners to get a Grade 1 win in a race restricted to their own age group. As a result, it has attracted a full field of 14, including one filly, Californiagoldrush, who was treated rudely at the post draw, landing the far outside post.

The field includes five Eastern invaders, including two from Chad Brown’s barn, Instilled Regard and Raging Bull.

“It’s a race we’ve had on our schedule for these horses for a while – Grade 1, straight 3-year-olds,” said Brown, who won the race two years ago with Annals of Time.

River Boyne is the best of the locals, and if he goes favored – he is the morning-line favorite at 5-2 on Russ Hudak’s line – it will be for the ninth straight time. He never has finished out of the money in three starts at Del Mar, and he rebounded from a third-place finish in the Del Mar Derby to win the Twilight Derby under regular rider Flavien Prat.

“He showed up like we expected him to,” Jeff Mullins, who trains River Boyne for Jed and Tim Cohen, said of the Twilight Derby. “He didn’t get a run until late, but he got the job done. Last time, Flavien had to wrangle him back. This time he’s drawn inside, so he should get covered up, and hopefully he’ll get some running room.”

Trips will be paramount in the bulky field. The course condition also could come into play. A storm hit Del Mar on Thursday and was expected to last into Friday. River Boyne’s worst race this year came on a yielding course at Churchill Downs. Del Mar’s turf is far different from Churchill’s – it is different grass and is cut short, so it never becomes a deep bog – but Mullins would prefer it nice and firm.

“He definitely does not like a soft course. But that course is notoriously hard,” Mullins said of Del Mar’s grass. “A little bit of moisture might help it.”

Raging Bull looks like a formidable foe. He has won four times in six starts, including two graded stakes at Saratoga, but he was a disappointing fifth of seven last time out in the Grade 2 Hill Prince on Oct. 6 when caught behind a slow pace.

“Pace and trip and on top of that he just didn’t fire his best race,” Brown said Thursday. “We let him come out of the race and catch his breath. It’s his last start of the year, a Grade 1 opportunity. Hopefully, he’ll round back to form.”

Instilled Regard, transferred to Brown after beginning his career with Jerry Hollendorfer, finished last in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby in his lone start for Brown on Sept. 22 when returning from a 4 1/2-month layoff. He never has raced on turf, but last month had two works on the turf at Belmont that Brown said he thought were “impressive.”

“He worked real well,” Brown said of Instilled Regard, a son of Arch who is owned by Larry Best. “I discussed it with Larry, and we thought this was the right opportunity to try the turf, a Grade 1 against your own age group.”

Have At It, winner of the Hill Prince and second to River Boyne in the Twilight Derby, is another top contender. For the third straight time, he has drawn the rail, affording him the opportunity of a ground-saving trip.

Carrick has a chance to bounce back after floundering on soft turf when facing older runners in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Sept. 29. He won the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington during the summer.

Californiagoldrush, third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, subsequently won the Grade 2 Sands Point on Sept. 15 at Belmont Park, her third win in four lifetime starts. She gets a three-pound weight break and carries 119 pounds. All the males carry 122.

The Hollywood Derby goes as race 7 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.