Bran, the winner of three sprint stakes on turf since April 2022, was held out of Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile in favor of the Grade 2 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.

“I don’t want to do both,” trainer John Sadler said on Friday morning. “Everything is good. We’re just changing course.”

The $300,000 Del Mar Mile is the leading turf race at that distance of the track’s summer meeting. The Eddie D Stakes is run at about 6 1/2 furlongs and will be worth a record $750,000 this year. The purse was $200,000 in 2023.

Part of Saturday’s Pacific Classic program at Del Mar is going global.

For the first time for Del Mar, three stakes on Saturday’s program, including the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, will be simulcast for wagering to Hong Kong.

The arrangement to simulcast a non-Breeders’ Cup race from the United States to Hong Kong is a first since the Kentucky Derby in 2012, according to Bill Nader, the president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. Nader was formerly a high-ranking official with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Adare Manor, California’s leading older female, will not start in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar after tying up after training on Thursday, trainer Bob Baffert said.

Adare Manor was the 9-5 favorite on the morning line to win the $1 million Pacific Classic.

“Adare Manor tied up a little bit after her gallop,” Baffert said. “I don’t feel she’s 100 percent. She can’t be off of her game.

“We’re going to sit this one out.”

Dicey Mo Chara and Flashiest exceeded the expectations of bettors when they finished second and third in stakes at Del Mar in late July.

The results have left trainer Leonard Powell eager to see if one of them can deliver an upset in Grade 2 turf stakes worth $300,000 at Del Mar on Saturday.

Dicey Mo Chara starts in the Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles, while Flashiest runs in the Del Mar Mile.

Asked on Thursday if one of them can win, Powell had a quick answer.

“Both of them,” he said, with a laugh.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – King’s Plate winner Caitlinhergrtness will bypass the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, according to trainer Kevin Attard, who cited the tight schedule that she’s been on. 

Caitlinhergrtness finished second in the Woodbine Oaks on July 20, two weeks after she notched an allowance on the inner turf in her first start after being sent to Attard. The King’s Plate was pushed back from Aug. 17 to Aug. 23 due to inclement weather, and the Prince of Wales goes Sept. 10. 

Topped by the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby, there will be 26 stakes worth $3.8 million offered at the 2024-25 Tampa Bay Downs meet that runs from Nov. 20 through May 3, the track announced in a press release Wednesday afternoon.

The $3.8 million, which represents a $350,000 increase from last year’s stakes purse money, includes $960,000 provided by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association through its registered Florida-bred and Florida Sire Stakes program. The FTBOA now has added money in all 26 stakes offered at the meet.

Formidable Man, winner of the restricted Oceanside Stakes at a mile on turf on July 20, will be trainer Michael McCarthy’s sole runner in Sunday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby.

McCarthy confirmed Formidable Man’s participation on Wednesday. Earlier this month, McCarthy said that Endlessly, a two-time stakes winner earlier this year, will miss the $300,000 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

“He’s getting a small break,” McCarthy said.

Easter, the winner of two Grade 2 stakes last fall but winless in three starts this year, has been held out of Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf and is scheduled to have his next start in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said the decision was based on Easter’s running style, which he thinks may be better suited to Santa Anita’s turf course.

Last December, El Encinal recorded a 14-1 upset in South America’s most prestigious race, the Group 1 Carlos Pellegrini Internacional in San Ysidro, Argentina.

The win changed the trajectory of El Encinal’s career.

With the victory, El Encinal earned a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2, and resulted in the 4-year-old colt being relocated to the United States earlier this year.

A 4-year-old colt, El Encinal will have his first start in this country in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf.