Wasted Tears shipping from Retama to Del Mar for Mabee

Wasted Tears will leave her Retama Park base Friday for Del Mar, where she will run in the Grade 2, $250,000 John C. Mabee Stakes on Aug. 15, said her trainer, Bart Evans. Wasted Tears will be seeking her seventh straight win, with her most recent score coming May 31 in the Grade 3, $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff at Lone Star Park.
Wasted Tears established herself as one of the nation’s top turf mares in April, when she won the Grade 2 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland over champion Forever Together. Rajiv Maragh rode Wasted Tears that afternoon and is to be reunited with her for the Mabee.
Evans said he plans to van Wasted Tears from Retama, which is located near San Antonio, Texas.
“We’ll leave Friday to go to Del Mar and get there Sunday if all goes well,” he said. “We’ll lay over in Tucson.”
Evans said that Wasted Tears would travel to his farm in Midland, Texas, on Friday. The next day, she will head to Tucson, Ariz., where he has lined up overnight accommodations for her. From there, it will be on to San Diego.
Evans had considered sending Wasted Tears to Saratoga for last week’s Grade 1 Diana, but could not make suitable flight arrangements for the mare. He said he would have had to send her close to three weeks in advance of the race, and during that time would have had concerns if it had rained. So instead of heading east, Wasted Tears stayed home in Texas to prep for the Mabee.
“We’re hoping for firm turf,” Evans said of one reason for going to Southern California. “You’re trying to make a checklist and eliminate the unknowns if you can.”
Wasted Tears won the Ouija Board at a mile on turf in 1:33.20, earning a Beyer Figure of 99. Evans said she was scheduled to work at Retama on Thursday, and would likely breeze at Del Mar leading up to the Mabee.