Terrys Tom Cat seeks Del Mar win for fifth straight summer

DEL MAR, Calif. – On July 24, 2015, Terrys Tom Cat made his first start at Del Mar, scoring a 10-1 upset in an optional claimer in which he was entered for a $40,000 claiming price.

He came back in the summer of 2016 and won again. He came back in the summer of 2017 and won again. And in the summer of 2018 . . . oh, you probably can guess.

Now age 8 and a veteran of 52 starts, Terrys Tom Cat will try to win a race at Del Mar for the fifth straight summer when he competes Thursday in race 2, a $32,000 claiming race at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Terrys Tom Cat has won four times in 10 starts on Del Mar’s turf. He is 0 for 14 racing on turf everywhere else. He is 4 for 42 overall when not racing on turf at Del Mar. Suffice to say, even though he’s based much of the year in Northern California, he enjoys his trips here.

That’s one of the reasons his longtime trainer Tim McCanna said he decided to give Terrys Tom Cat an extended vacation during the winter, from November until July 4, when he ran on dirt at Pleasanton.

“I wanted to gear up for this time of year, freshen him up,” McCanna said Monday morning. “He likes this turf course. We wanted him to be ready for Del Mar. He didn’t run that badly at Pleasanton. It should set him up pretty good.”

Like most geldings still in training at this age, Terrys Tom Cat knows what he wants, and when he wants it.

“He loves to train,” McCanna said. “He has to be the first one out every morning. He wants out, otherwise he’s raising hell.”

He’s no pet, either.

“He doesn’t bite, but he pins his ears. He’s not a friendly guy,” McCanna said.

McCanna has 14 runners at Del Mar this summer, and he already owns a win at the young meet. But safe to say no one in his barn enjoys being here more than Terrys Tom Cat.