D'Amato Pleased With Del Mar Derby Result

The victory by Midnight Storm ($36.60), a horse that was transferred over to trainer Phil D’Amato after the start of the meeting and was making only his second start for D’Amato, was not a surprise to D’Amato.

“I’ve never had a horse train like he did. I thought he’d be 2-1,” D’Amato said after the upset.

D’Amato took the  3-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Pioneerof the Nile, owned by Alex Venneri and Marjorie Post Dye, and immediately put him on the turf for a victory in a one-mile optional claimer on August 10. The jump to Sunday’s Grade II, 1 1/8-mile event was a wire-to-wire, 3 ¼-length success under Tyler Baze.       

“I’m going to give Phil one hundred percent credit for that win,” said Mike Mitchell, who turned his stable over to 12-year assistant D’Amato upon retiring last spring.

“ I looked it over and gave (Midnight Storm) no chance against (8-5 favorite) Enterprising in that field. But Phil knew the horse was that good, got him in the right race and got the right trip. I think Tyler is great on those types of horses.

“I saw the (Midnight Storm) race before, and that was a good race. But to go to the Derby from there – that was Phil’s decision and it turned out to be a good one. We’re all happy at the barn to walk away with a win like that. This has been a terrific meet for him.”

D’Amato has four stakes victories in an 11-win total for his first Del Mar meeting. That’s one more stakes victory than Mitchell had in his best season. D’Amato is, however, 465 Del Mar victories behind Mitchell, who holds the track record (476) for  training wins.

Source: Del Mar