Santin one to beat in Seabiscuit field rich with graded stakes winners

DEL MAR, Calif. – It is a combination of a rematch, preview, and showcase race all wrapped into the strongest turf route this year in California.

Nine older horses, including seven graded or group stakes winners, entered the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar, a 1 1/16-mile race in which the horse to beat is dual Grade 1 winner Santin. His trainer shares a popular opinion.

“I think on his day, he’s as good a turf horse as there is in the country,” Brendan Walsh said.

He is not wrong, though Midwest-based Santin is not a cinch returning to Del Mar, where he missed by a neck in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby last November in his third start.

:: Save 20% on DRF PPs, Clocker Reports, and other handicapping essentials for a limited time

Santin improved this year at age 4, and so did last year’s Hollywood Derby winner, Beyond Brilliant. Beyond Brilliant followed that victory by developing this year into a top older turf horse in California, winning a pair of Grade 2 races.

The best might still be ahead for Beyond Brilliant.

“He’s turning into a very serious grass horse, with a lot of distance” potential, trainer John Shirreffs said.

Beyond Brilliant, whose recent effort in the Breeders’ Cup Mile was better than his eighth-place finish indicates, benefits Saturday by easier company and potentially a softer pace.

In addition to the Seabiscuit being a rematch between Santin and Beyond Brilliant, it offers a preview of the 2023 turf division. Both horses will race next year at age 5. But winning a turf race in California often requires defeating runners from the deepest turf stable in the West, that of Phil D’Amato. He has three in the Seabiscuit.

Hong Kong Harry leads the D’Amato brigade based on two outstanding turf-mile stakes wins this year. In the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile and Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita, Hong Kong Harry won after running faster with each successive quarter-mile, finishing in 22.74 seconds at Del Mar and 22.98 at Santa Anita.

D’Amato also entered Grade 2 winner Masteroffoxhounds and outsider Lincoln Hawk, who exits an allowance sprint and could be entered to insure an honest pace.

The field for the $250,000 Seabiscuit also includes Smooth Like Strait, one-two in all six of his races in graded turf stakes at Del Mar; Irideo, a Group 1 winner in Argentina and Grade 2-placed in the United States; deep closer Set Piece; and longshot Kentucky Ghost.

:: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now!

In order to support Santin in the Seabiscuit, one must forgive his ninth-place finish as the favorite last out in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland.

“He jumped in the air and completely missed the break,” Walsh said. “He was basically beaten by the time they got into the first turn.”

Earlier this year, the 4-for-9 Santin won two Grade 1s at Churchill Downs – the Arlington Million and Old Forester Turf Classic. Owned and bred by Godolphin, Santin will be ridden Saturday by Umberto Rispoli, who rode him last year in the Hollywood Derby.

Six of the last 11 winners of the Seabiscuit, previously run as the Citation at Hollywood Park, were exiting Breeders’ Cup races. This year, Beyond Brilliant and Smooth Like Strait exit the BC Mile.

Beyond Brilliant pressed the pace and remained in contention turning for home, but the BC Mile was dominated by closers.

“I was very happy with his effort,” Shirreffs said, noting that Beyond Brilliant came out of the race “kicking down the stall.”

Victor Espinoza rides Beyond Brilliant, who should get a good trip pressing the pace outside Smooth Like Strait and jockey John Velazquez. Smooth Like Strait, who missed an early October start after suffering a cut leg, set the pace in the BC Mile and faltered to finish ninth while making his first start in nearly three months. Michael McCarthy trains the 7-for-23 Smooth Like Strait.

If the Seabiscuit becomes a quarter-mile sprint to the finish, Hong Kong Harry could emerge victorious. An unheralded British import at the start of the year, Hong Kong Harry has come a long way for D’Amato.

“He came here with really bad feet,” D’Amato said. “With feet, you knew you’d need a lot of TLC to get him where he needed to be. We gave him plenty of time to acclimate and get his feet right. Once we did that, everything else came around.”

Hong Kong Harry won back-to-back allowance races in spring, followed by the American in June and Del Mar Turf Mile in September. He was freshened specifically to point to the Seabiscuit. Flavien Prat rides Hong Kong Harry.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.