Larry Collmus will call the races at the Del Mar autumn meeting, continuing as a replacement for Trevor Denman who is taking this year off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The track made the announcement in a statement on Friday morning.

It has taken a bit of commuting on Southern California freeways to prepare the promising colt Waspirant for his stakes debut in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes on Sept. 26 at Santa Anita.

Trained by John Shirreffs, Waspirant won his second start in a maiden special weight race at a mile on Aug. 29 at Del Mar. Waspirant had a half-mile workout on Sept. 8 at Del Mar, the day after the track’s summer meeting concluded. He was shipped to Santa Anita a few days later with the rest of the Shirreffs stable.

The event will again offer nine races, with purses totaling $835,000 in 2020, down from $1,110,000 a year ago. The Claiming Crown highlights the opening weekend of the 2020-21 Championship meet, which kicks off on Dec. 2.  

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A well-matched field of 10 3-year-olds and upward will clash in the nominal Sunday feature, a $77,000 first-level allowance scheduled for a mile on the turf. Oak Hill figures among the core of favorites when looking to revert to a two-back maiden triumph at Saratoga for trainer Al Stall Jr.

First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern, with sunshine and a high of 73 in the local forecast. Live televised coverage is available on FS1 (12:30-4) and FS2 (4-5:30).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Miguel Mena is expected to be out of action for a few weeks after being thrown to the turf by his mount, Urbana, at the finish of the fifth race Thursday. Mena suffered two cracked ribs in the incident and took off the balance of his mounts.

Agent Joe Santos said Mena could return “by the second week of Keeneland,” which opens Oct. 2.

“No punctures or anything else internal,” Santos said. “He heals up pretty quick.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mr. Big News was sent through his first serious work since finishing third in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby when breezing a half-mile in 48.80 seconds early Friday over a fast Churchill surface. The Giant’s Causeway colt is one of about a dozen early prospects for the Oct. 3 Preakness at Pimlico.

Trainer Bret Calhoun said Mr. Big News “was very sharp” in what was intended to be something of a maintenance work.

“We were only looking for a half in about 50, but he was full of energy and galloped out great,” said Calhoun.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Walt Bindner Jr. couldn’t remember the last time he and jockey Rafael Bejarano teamed to win a race. But he sure remembers that one time.

“Of course I do,” Bindner said the morning after Tiz Our Turn ($10.20) carried Bejarano to a 3 3/4-length triumph in a $38,415 starter-allowance Thursday over the Churchill Downs turf.

Canterbury Park on Thursday night concluded a 2020 racing season simultaneously wildly successful and relatively meaningless to the track’s bottom line, with horse racing’s revenue distribution system at the heart of the paradox.

Jolie Olimpica, winner of two graded stakes at Santa Anita this year, is recovering from a recent health setback that prevented her from starting in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint on Sept. 12.

Jolie Olimpica was found to be ill in the hours before she was scheduled to be flown from Santa Anita to Kentucky Downs.

“She had a 104 temperature,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “Thank God we didn’t put her on the airplane.”

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Margot’s Boy, a game second in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 6, is likely to start in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on Oct. 18, trainer Craig Lewis said Thursday.

The $200,000 Twilight Derby is run at 1 1/8 miles on turf and could lead to a start for Margot’s Boy in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf Nov. 28 at Del Mar.

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