Versatile King of Gosford dangerous in Del Mar Mile
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DEL MAR, Calif. – King of Gosford can settle anywhere in the first part of a turf stakes in California – on the lead or toward the back of the field. Both styles have worked, making King of Gosford a danger in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile.
King of Gosford closed from off the pace to win the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in 2025. A six-time stakes winner, King of Gosford won his last start in the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 19 by leading throughout.
In the $300,000 Del Mar Mile, trainer Phil D’Amato is projecting an off-the-pace run from King of Gosford.
“He’s a horse that can sit anywhere,” he said. “He can do a bit of everything, which is a plus. There is definitely speed in there. I see him sitting off those horses.”
The group King of Gosford must beat does not include Formidable Man, winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on May 25. King of Gosford was third in that race.
Trainer Michael McCarthy said last weekend that Formidable Man is scheduled to start in the Grade 3 Mint Millions Invitational at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 7, a $2 million race at a mile on turf. Formidable Man was third by a nose and a head in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar on July 26 and would have been a strong favorite on Saturday.
In the Del Mar Mile, D’Amato also starts Almendares, who was second in the recent Shoemaker Mile.
To win on Saturday, the D’Amato duo must contend with El Potente, a two-time stakes winner who in his last start was a game second in the Grade 2 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 7. El Potente was beaten by Final Boss, who was retired later in the spring.
They are expected to be in pursuit of speedy types such as Cabo Spirit and Flyover.
Cabo Spirit, who starts from the inside post, set a slow pace in the Eddie Read and was beaten a nose by Gold Phoenix. Flyover won turf stakes for statebreds at Santa Anita in March and April and was fourth in a tough allowance race against open company at five furlongs on turf July 19. The Del Mar Mile is Flyover’s graded stakes debut in a race around two turns.
Almendares has performed best from off the pace, evidenced by his win in the Grade 3 American Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in April and a second-place finish in the Shoemaker Mile.
Almendares was sixth of eight in the Eddie Read, a loss D’Amato summarily dismisses.
“Totally draw a line through that,” D’Amato said. “He got bumped and he got rank and he sat second.
“Every time he sits close like that, it never turns out well. Every time we sit back and come with a run, he tends to run his race. He’ll have some pace to run at. I wouldn’t count him out.”
Of the 12 entrants in the Del Mar, 11 are stakes winners. The exception is Detain, who was third by three-quarters of a length in the Group 1 French Derby in 2025. Detain won his most recent start in an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles on turf here July 17 in a manner that suggests he can be a factor.
The Del Mar Mile will determine Detain’s schedule later this year.
“I think wheeling him back to a mile, if we have success, opens up a lot of options,” McCarthy said.
El Potente, who missed the Shoemaker Mile because of illness, figures to be forward from an outside post. El Potente has had eight workouts since mid-June, including five furlongs on turf in 1:01 on Aug. 13.
“He’s ready. He runs well fresh,” trainer Dan Blacker said. “His last work was a good as ever.
“He would have run in the Shoemaker Mile, but had a fever three days before the race. It was very disappointing to get that close to the one Grade 1 of the year” for turf milers in California.
“It was bad luck. He took a bit of time to bounce back. This race was the next goal.”
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