Van Dyke needs to work out a trip with Master Piece in John Henry Turf Championship

After Master Piece rumbled through the stretch to finish second by a half-length in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 22, jockey Drayden Van Dyke had a new friend in the 5-year-old Chilean-bred.

Van Dyke rode Master Piece for the first time at Del Mar, and they will be back together for Saturday’s Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles at Santa Anita.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back on him,” Van Dyke said.

“I’ve worked him a few times. I think we have a good chance to win the race. The distance is no issue.”

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A greater concern is a large field of 13 and Master Piece’s closing style. A clean trip is essential to have any chance of winning the $200,000 John Henry Turf Championship, the last of 11 races on Saturday’s card.

“He’s a really cool, classy horse,” Van Dyke said. “Once you get the engine started, you don’t want to get stopped. Hopefully we can get it done.

“It will be one of those races where the trip will mean a lot.”

Master Piece, a two-time stakes winner in Chile, is trained by Michael McCarthy, who also starts Friar’s Road, the convincing winner of an allowance race at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 28.

The John Henry Turf Championship could produce starters for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6, although any BC Turf runner coming out of the John Henry would be a longshot against an international field.

The John Henry Turf Championship is an intriguing race that includes five 2021 stakes winners – Acclimate, Award Winner, Camino Del Paraiso, Neptune’s Storm, and United.

The field does not include Astronaut, who won the Del Mar Handicap and will have his next start in the BC Turf, according to trainer John Shirreffs.

United won the 2020 John Henry Turf Championship and was later eighth in the BC Turf at Keeneland. At the recent Del Mar summer meeting, United won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf in July and then closed with interest to finish a troubled fourth, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Del Mar Handicap.

“We have to hope for some good luck,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “He’s had trouble back and forth in a lot of his races. He’s kind of a victim of that. He has a big, lumbering stride. When he gets tangled up, it’s hard to get him going on.”

United “needs a big race” to be considered for the BC Turf, Mandella said.

Last year, United led throughout the John Henry Turf Championship, but he is unlikely to set the pace on Saturday with Acclimate and Neptune’s Storm in the field.

Neptune’s Storm set the pace to the final furlong and finished fourth in a top-class running of the Del Mar Mile on Aug. 21.

Acclimate was second by a head to Award Winner in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in May and won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at 1 3/4 miles on turf in June. In the Del Mar Handicap, Acclimate set the pace to the final furlong before finishing third, beaten three-quarters of a length by winner Astronaut.

“It was a super anti-speed turf course,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.

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D’Amato said Acclimate is best suited to racing on or near the front.

“He could sit 1-2-3 and run his race,” D’Amato said. “I do know he likes to be on the front end, though. I don’t see him sitting more than a length off.”

D’Amato has three runners in the John Henry Turf Championship, including Red King, who was a troubled fifth in the Del Mar Handicap, and Ready Soul, who will have his stakes debut on Saturday. Ready Soul will race as a gelding for the first time.

A quick pace would help Red King, who won the 2020 Del Mar Handicap and was ninth in the BC Turf at Keeneland.

“He likes these big, giant fields,” D’Amato said. “It looks like there will be some pace up front for him to come with his late kick instead of having to make his move early.”