Tranquility Lake snug fit for Gas Total
DEL MAR, Calif. – The final week of the Del Mar summer season begins Wednesday with a clear favorite in the $80,000 Tranquility Lake Stakes, the highlight of a nine-race card.
Gas Total is barely eligible for the race. At one mile on dirt, the Tranquility Lake is for fillies and mares and is restricted to non-winners of a stakes worth $50,000 to the winner since Feb. 1. Gas Total finished second in a Grade 1 race in May and last out won a stakes and earned $49,200.
That means the conditions are ideal for Gas Total as she tries to become the second Richard Mandella trainee to win two stakes at the meet. Gas Total won the Osunitas on July 18; Beholder won two Grade 1 races, including the Pacific Classic.
Ten were entered in the Tranquility Lake, and Gas Total is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. Her rivals include Honey Ride and My Monet, both dropping from a Grade 1; Savings Account and Sky Mega, up in class after finishing first and third in a second-level allowance; and Grade 1-winning sprinter Sam’s Sister in the first route of her career.
Gas Total’s rider is Flavien Prat, who was fined $200 the last time he rode her. Bettors who wagered on Gas Total in the Osunitas appreciated his ride, but the California Horse Racing Board frowns on excessive whip use. Prat was fined for violating a CHRB rule that prohibits a jockey from whipping a horse more than three times in succession without giving the horse a chance to respond.
The others entered in the Tranquility Lake are Our Pure Creation, Oscar Party, Harlington’s Rose, and Wild in the Saddle.
KEY CONTENDERS
Gas Total
(Last 3 Beyers: 85-87-93)
◗ Gas Total began her career in Brazil, winning 1 of 10. Next was Argentina, where she won 1 of 7, followed by a France campaign in which she also won 1 of 7. Gas Total has won 2 of 4 in the U.S. and enters the Tranquility Lake having won 5 of 28.
◗ Gas Total, a closer, is challenged by the speed-friendly track profile. Over the past three weeks, one-mile dirt races have been dominated by front-runners and pace pressers, as 17 of the last 20 were won by a horse within 1 1/2 lengths of the lead after the first half-mile.
Honey Ride
(Last 3 Beyers: 75-89-85)
◗ Honey Ride was in tough last out in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch and was compromised by strategy. Fourth on the rail early, she made a premature move entering the backstretch, set the pace to the far turn, was shuffled back, and finished fifth. It was possibly a better-than-it-looked effort.
◗ John Sadler trains Honey Ride; she will be ridden by Tyler Baze. In stakes this summer, Baze is 0 for 26, with one second and 10 thirds. Baze ranks third in the overall standings.
Sam’s Sister
(Last 3 Beyers: 74-77-76)
◗ Sam’s Sister has won 5 of 10 for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer while racing exclusively in sprints. The winner of the Grade 1 La Brea in December and the Grade 2 Santa Monica in January, Sam’s Sister has not reproduced her top form in her last four starts.
◗ Martin Garcia rides.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 9 Sam’s Sister. Trainer Jerry Holendorfer is 39-10-11-4 with a $3.75 ROI over the past five years on dirt in Southern California with horses stretching out to a route for the first time. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Savings Account. Trainer Tom Proctor is 21-4-2-6 with a $3.28 ROI over the past two years in dirt routes with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan