Streaking Proletariat will be on the engine in Twilight Derby

Life as a gelding this year means constant trips to the winner’s circle for Proletariat, who will be a strong favorite to win his third consecutive stakes in Sunday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita.

Proletariat is unbeaten in three starts this year as a gelding, the most recent of which was a comfortable win by 1 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

The $200,000 Twilight Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

There is no secret to the tactic jockey Kyle Frey will employ with Proletariat. He will have Proletariat on the lead from an inside post in a field of six on Sunday.

:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF PPs, Clocker Reports, Picks and more. Shop Now.

“Once he makes the lead, he hits cruise control and takes them around there,” trainer Jeff Mullins said earlier this week. “That’s been him since we gelded him.”

Proletariat won his first start of the year in a six-furlong allowance race on turf in May, stalking the pace before winning by a length. In the Oceanside Handicap at a mile on turf at Del Mar in July, Proletariat was in front shortly after the start and won by 5 3/4 lengths.

Proletariat is the only graded stakes winner in the Twilight Derby. Unrivaled Time won the Snow Chief Stakes for statebred 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf, and was later eighth in the Oceanside and fourth in the Del Mar Derby.

Trained by Leonard Powell, Unrivaled Time closed well through the stretch of the Del Mar Derby to miss third by a nose.

Melismatic and Tribalism, fifth and seventh in the Del Mar Derby, are entered in the Twilight Derby, the main race on the closing day of the Santa Anita autumn meeting. Del Mar opens its fall meeting on Friday, Nov. 6.

Melismatic had a two-race winning streak end in the Del Mar Derby.

Proletariat will race against Essos and Path to Power for the first time on Sunday.

Essos, trained by Mark Glatt, won an allowance race at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Oct. 18, closing well in the final furlong. The Twilight Derby is the first start in a graded stakes for Essos.

Path to Power has shown significant improvement since he was gelded in the summer. He won a maiden race at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 8, and finished third in an allowance race at 1 3/8 miles on turf there on Sept. 5 as the 7-5 favorite. The race was won by the multiple stakes winner Balnikhov.

Phil D’Amato trains Melismatic and Path to Power.

Similar to Proletariat, Path to Power is considered a candidate for the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 28, pending Sunday’s outcome.

“It’s a good fit and maybe this is a stepping-stone to the Hollywood Derby,” D’Amato said.

“I think he’s still learning. Gelding has helped him. I think he’s shown the ability and the farther he goes the better.”

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