Team Merchants gets first stakes win in Let It Ride
DEL MAR, Calif. – The addition of blinkers and a first attempt at a mile on turf gave Team Merchants his first stakes win in Thursday’s $108,750 Let It Ride Stakes for 3-year-olds at Del Mar.
Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Team Merchants ($12.40) closed from fourth with a half-mile remaining to take a commanding lead in early stretch. Team Merchants won by 1 1/2 lengths over 44-1 Nerves of Steel, and was timed in 1:34.42.
Team Merchants earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88.
“Credit to Mario. He said to put a set of blinkers on him,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “The blinkers helped him to focus. I think the turf was the main thing. Two turns was nice.”
Coulthard (3-1) finished third in his American stakes debut, followed by Lincoln Hawk, Crew Dragon, Sonic Brees, Man Friday, Petruchio, and Coastal Kid.
Big Fish was scratched earlier on Thursday.
Team Merchants, a colt by Nyquist, races for owners and breeders Paul and Zillah Reddam, and has won 3 of 7 starts. Team Merchants, who has earned $176,990, was fifth behind Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in the Shared Belief Stakes at a mile on dirt here Aug. 29 and fourth in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 26 at Remington Park.
The Let It Ride Stakes was restricted to 3-year-olds who had not won a first-place purse of $60,000 or more to the winner in races other than races for statebreds at a mile or longer since April 1.
Team Merchants will be considered for the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf here Nov. 27, O’Neill said.