Van Dyke chasing first Santa Anita riding title

ARCADIA, Calif. – Since Drayden Van Dyke won his first riding title at Del Mar on Sept. 3, he has celebrated his 24th birthday and won three stakes at Kentucky Downs and Los Alamitos.

On Friday’s first day of the autumn meeting at Santa Anita, Van Dyke has five mounts on the nine-race program and the job of trying to win his first riding title there.

“Hopefully, I can pick up where I left at Del Mar,” he said between workouts on Wednesday morning. “I hope to keep getting on the right horses.”

Van Dyke has an excellent chance in Friday’s feature, the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course. Van Dyke rides Stormy Liberal, who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar last November. At Del Mar, Van Dyke rode Stormy Liberal to two wins, including a nose victory in the Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf on Aug. 17.

Trained by Peter Miller, Stormy Liberal has won 7 of 13 starts on the hillside course.

“He may be better off the hill,” Van Dyke said. “I know him well.”

Van Dyke, who won two riding titles at Los Alamitos in 2014, will contend for the Santa Anita title with colleagues such as Tyler Baze and Flavien Prat. Van Dyke rode sparingly at Los Alamitos in recent weeks, and said on Wednesday he is ready to be more active.

“I like to keep busy,” Van Dyke said. “I like to have days off, but not for too long. You can losing racing fitness by not riding.”

Saturday, Van Dyke has mounts in two of the four Grade 1 races that are preps for the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2-3. Van Dyke rides Cambodia in the Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares on turf and Der Lu in the Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

The other two Grade 1 races are the Awesome Again Stakes for 3-year-olds and up and the American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds. The Awesome Again Stakes is led by Accelerate, the winner of three Grade 1 races in Southern California this year.

Stronach 5 wager debuts

The $1 Stronach 5, a pick-five bet with a 12 percent takeout, begins a six-week run on Friday with two races from Gulfstream Park and one each from Golden Gate Fields, Laurel Park, and Santa Anita.

The bet, which will be held on Fridays through Nov. 2, showcases races at tracks owned by The Stronach Group.

Friday’s Stronach 5 has a guaranteed pool of $50,000 and consists of the ninth race at Laurel, at 5:26 p.m., Eastern, followed by the fourth race at Santa Anita at 5:32 p.m., the eighth at Gulfstream Park at 5:38 p.m., the fourth at Golden Gate Fields at 5:50 p.m. and the ninth at Gulfstream Park at 6:08 p.m.

The bet could have a carryover to the following Friday if there are no tickets with five winners.