Unbeaten Iscreamuscream will need best in tough Del Mar Oaks
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Iscreamuscream was prominent throughout the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies on July 20 at Del Mar, setting the pace before winning her first start at the distance.
The San Clemente was the perfect prep race for Saturday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at the longer distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf. Unbeaten in three starts, Iscreamuscream will need that experience, and another stout effort, to win the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks. The race drew a field of eight, including six other stakes winners.
Iscreamuscream is one of three runners in the field trained by Phil D’Amato, who starts two other graded stakes winners in Circle of Trust and Zona Verde. The competition includes Buchu and Whiskey Decision, stakes winners earlier this year at Keeneland and Delaware Park.
“I’ll need three shots to beat those two nice shippers,” D’Amato said Thursday.
Buchu and Whiskey Decision are not the only threats to D’Amato’s team. Medoro, a winner of her first four starts, was third by 1 1/4 lengths in the San Clemente and is part of a fascinating Del Mar Oaks field.
Iscreamuscream, who races for the partnership of Little Red Feather Racing, Agave Racing, John Hundley Jr., Marsha Naify, and John and Stacey Snyder, drew the inside post. While she led in the San Clemente, Iscreamuscream is not reliant on that style, D’Amato insists.
Iscreamuscream’s position will be left to jockey Hector Berrios, who was aboard the filly for the first time in San Clemente.
“She’s a tactical filly,” D’Amato said. “She can stalk and pounce. She possesses a nice turn of foot. I don’t think a mile and eighth will hurt.”
Along with the shippers, D’Amato’s other fillies have massive appeal.
Circle of Trust won the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita in her last start June 1. A quick pace Saturday will help Circle of Trust, a two-time winner from off the pace.
“We know that Circle of Trust loves a mile and an eighth,” D’Amato said. “If the race was a mile and a quarter, it would be up her alley. She’s a filly that can run all day.”
Zone Verde was second to Iscreamuscream in the San Clemente in her first start since early April. She is winless in five starts since winning the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar last December.
“I think second time out, she should improve,” D’Amato said.
Medoro closed from eighth of 10 in the San Clemente and did not have an ideal trip. Medoro was stuck behind Iscreamuscream and others on the turn before she rallied wide to be close to the front at the finish. The San Clemente was Medoro’s first start since a win in the Providencia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita in April.
“I don’t think you can overlook that she has won four of five,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “She didn’t run too shabby.
“She had a troubled trip. She got stopped and finished well.”
Two other fillies who started in the San Clemente are part of the Del Mar Oaks field – Sakura Blossom, who finished fourth, and Sea Dancer, who was eighth. Both had disrupted efforts on the turn.
Buchu and Whiskey Decision have attractive credentials. Buchu won the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at a mile on turf at Keeneland in April in her 2024 debut. She has since lost three starts, the most recent of which was a sixth-place finish by four lengths after a wide trip in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks at 1 3/16 miles on turf on July 6 at Aqueduct.
Whiskey Decision has won her last three starts, including her stakes debut in the Christiana Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on July 8 at Delaware Park. Whiskey Decision was near the front throughout and won by 2 3/4 lengths as the 1-5 favorite.
Whiskey Decision may be the runner to catch in the Del Mar Oaks.
“She’s really tactical,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said earlier this week. “She’s got speed and she can close. She’s a neat filly to have.”
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