Sunset Glow will run in Debutante rather than Futurity
DEL MAR, Calif. – Sunset Glow, who won the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes on Aug. 6, will run in Saturday’s $300,000 Del Mar Debutante against 2-year-old fillies and not in the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity against males on closing day, Sept. 3, trainer Wesley Ward said Wednesday.
Ward had considered both races in recent weeks before settling on the Del Mar Debutante, he said.
“We’re going to take the conventional path,” he said.
Sunset Glow is expected to have seven rivals in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante over seven furlongs – Conquest Eclipse, Dad’s Princess, Her Emmynency, Manahatta, Seduire, Starlet O’Hara, and Stealth Drone.
Stealth Drone was claimed for $80,000 when she won a maiden race over 5 1/2 furlongs in her career debut July 23, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 62. Previously trained by Peter Miller, Stealth Drone is now owned by Neil Haymes, Dave Kenny, and Sterling Stables and trained by Doug O’Neill.
By Smoke Glacken, Stealth Drone was supplemented to the Del Mar Debutante for $10,000.
“She doesn’t stack up numbers-wise, but she has a win on the track,” O’Neill said. “We liked her pedigree. She looked the part in the paddock.”
Sunset Glow will be favored in the Del Mar Debutante, but there will be significant support for Her Emmynency, a sharp maiden race winner over 5 1/2 furlongs in her debut Aug. 2.
O’Neill will have a runner in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity in Henry’s Holiday, who worked five furlongs in 1:03 on Wednesday. Henry’s Holiday was second in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 3 behind Skyway, the expected favorite in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity.
Trainer Bob Baffert will have two runners in the Del Mar Futurity – Holiday Camp and Lord Nelson.
Holiday Camp, sixth in the Santa Anita Juvenile on June 22, worked six furlongs in 1:12 on Wednesday, the fastest of nine recorded works at the distance. Lord Nelson, the winner of a maiden race over five furlongs in his debut July 19, worked six furlongs in 1:12.20 on Wednesday.