Van Dyke has live mounts in Hollywood Derby, Matriarch

When the Breeders’ Cup was run at Santa Anita last month, jockey Drayden Van Dyke left on a two-day trip to Churchill Downs. He rode three winners there Nov. 4 and 5, taking advantage of the absence of several of Kentucky’s leading riders – who were at Santa Anita.

Van Dyke immediately returned to California and rode a winner on the final day of the Santa Anita autumn meeting, Nov. 6. In recent weeks, Van Dyke, 22, has stayed close to California and is in the midst of an outstanding autumn meeting at Del Mar.

With the exception of riding the Thanksgiving Day program at Churchill Downs, Van Dyke has been at Del Mar regularly, winning nine races at the meet. He won five races last weekend.

Van Dyke swept the two stakes last Saturday, the Jimmy Durante Stakes on Journey Home and the Seabiscuit Handicap on Ring Weekend. This weekend, Van Dyke is scheduled to ride the two Grade 1 races that highlight the Saturday and Sunday programs.

The meeting ends Sunday, and Van Dyke has a chance at the riding title. He began the four-day racing week on Thursday in second in the jockey standings behind Flavien Prat, who had 11 wins. Prat will not ride this weekend because doctors advised him to rest after he was unseated in a race last Sunday.

The injury could cost Prat the title. Entering the final week of the meet, Van Dyke and Norberto Arroyo Jr. had nine wins, and Victor Espinoza had eight.

“I know I’m close to leading rider,” Van Dyke said Wednesday.

“We’re all kind of close. Hopefully, I can top off a few more winners and be fortunate enough to get leading rider. I’ve had a really good meeting.”

Saturday, Van Dyke will ride Revved Up in the $300,000 Hollywood Derby on turf for New York trainer Shug McGaughey. Sunday, Van Dyke has the mount on Stays in Vegas in the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes for female turf milers. Van Dyke will be riding each horse for the first time.

Revved Up was fifth in the Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby on Sept. 24 at Laurel. The Hollywood Derby will be his first start in a Grade 1 race.

The race is expected to draw a strong field, including Annals of Time, Beach Patrol, Blackjackcat, Camelot Kitten, Defiantly, Diplodocus, Frank Conversation, Free Rose, Hayabusa One, Isotherm, and Path of David.

Stays in Vegas, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, was third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in August and sixth in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland in October. Van Dyke said a study session should be enough to become acquainted with Stays in Vegas.

“I’ll watch a few of her races and go from there,” he said.

The Matriarch field is led by Miss Temple City, who won the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland in October and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

Stakes winners Belvoir Bay and Monster Bea will be held out of the Grade 1 races at Del Mar this weekend in favor of graded stakes for 3-year-olds Dec. 26, opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. Both are trained by Peter Miller.

Miller said Belvoir Bay will miss Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes to start in the $300,000 La Brea Stakes, a Grade 1 for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on dirt.

“We’ll run her on the dirt against her own age group,” Miller said.

Owned by Team Valor International and Gary Barber, Belvoir Bay has won three stakes in the last year – the Blue Norther Stakes on turf last December, the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes on dirt at Del Mar in August, and the Unzip Me Stakes on the dirt Oct. 1 at Santa Anita. She was fifth in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes on the hillside turf course Oct. 29 at Santa Anita.

Monster Bea, winner of the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar in July, will start in the $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile on turf at Santa Anita instead of Saturday’s Hollywood Derby.

“We thought it would be too much to run in both,” Miller said.