Wickerr Stakes field leaves plenty of questions

The Wickerr Stakes tends to be a head-scratcher every summer at Del Mar. This year, no exception. And for handicappers who enjoy throwing shade, no shortage of targets.

Perhaps veteran Grade 1 winners Bolo and Voodoo Song are past their prime. Maybe a crowded pace scenario will compromise all four front-runners, including program favorite Kiwi’s Dream. And the three comebackers? On Saturday, they might only be prepping.

What remains in the $65,000 Wickerr is an evenly matched field at a mile on turf, with objectives ranging from comeback prep to all-out “go.” The Wickerr, restricted to nonwinners of a route stakes since fall, is the type of minor race that can lead to a major race.

“We’re definitely using this race to help set us up for the Del Mar Mile,” said Big Score’s trainer, Tim Yakteen. “It’s just a matter of whether he’s sharp enough [to win] first race back.”

Unraced since October, Big Score has run well fresh. The late-runner won his 2016 career debut, and in 2017 won a graded stakes first start back. But now he is a 6-year-old, and the Wickerr is a means to an end. The target is the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 23.

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Big Score benefits by the pace scenario. Four front-runners entered, including Bolo, Voodoo Song, the 3-1 favorite Kiwi’s Dream, and comebacker Bob and Jackie. Big Score, 7-2 second choice on the morning line, can win, even if he is prepping. Yakteen said Big Score is “doing super and has a good foundation in him.”

Big Score is by Mr. Big; his Yakteen-trained sibling Mucho Unusual, by Mucho Macho Man, runs in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on Saturday at Keeneland. Big Score and Mucho Unusual are owned and bred by George Krikorian.

If it turns out Big Score needs a race, the Wickerr could unfold for Souter, dead-heat third last out in the Grade 3 American while returning from a six-month layoff. Souter might be challenged by “class,” but he fits on current form and is listed at an attractive 12-1.

“He’s always been just a cut below stakes horses out here,” said Souter’s trainer, Mark Glatt. “But he had a real good comeback race, and I think on a given day there’s a chance he could upset a bunch like that.”

Souter lost ground throughout in the American, rallying from seventh to third in a race won by the pacesetter.

Voodoo Song, a 6-year-old winless since the Fourstardave in 2018 at Saratoga, was chewed up in a pace duel last out in the Grade 1 Shoemaker at Santa Anita after he was slammed by War of Will.

“That horse banged into him leaving the gate, and it just set him off,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “Nothing went right after that. He was bearing out, he’s a little bit temperamental.”

Mandella hopes Voodoo Song rations his speed Saturday. He said his 58.80-second workout July 1 was the best Voodoo Song has worked since he joined Mandella early this year. Voodoo Song previously was trained in New York by Linda Rice.

Bolo, front-running upset winner of the Shoemaker in 2019 at Santa Anita, adds speed, but his form is uncertain at age 8. He finished ninth, 10th, and eighth his last three starts.

Kiwi’s Dream enters with the highest recent speed figures – 97 Beyer last out finishing second in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile and 102 two starts back finishing second in a stakes race on synthetic. The challenge for Kiwi’s Dream on Saturday is pace.

Kiwi’s Dream benefited from soft fractions last out in a race dominated by three front-runners. Based on the front-running habits of four entrants in the Wickerr, it is unlikely any front-runner will get an easy lead Saturday.

Kiwi’s Dream is trained in Northern California by Victor Trujillo, who said the gelding is currently the best horse in his 30-head stable.

“On a scale of one to 10, [Kiwi’s Dream] is probably a 10,” Trujillo said, adding with a laugh: “Most of my others are 2s and 3s.”

Others in the Wickerr include comebacker Jasikan, winner of the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar last summer; longshot Florida shipper New Year; and Murad Khan. Three of the last nine Wickerr winners paid more than $40.