Del Mar 2024: Du Jour, Johannes will battle in Eddie Read

Johannes and Du Jour are expected to attract most of the betting dollars among the nine turf specialists who will do some lawn mowing Sunday at Del Mar in the 51st running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes.

Veteran handicapper Jeff Siegel, Del Mar’s new morning-line maker, makes the 1 1/8-mile race between the 4-year-old colt Johannes (2-1) and the 6-year-old gelding Du Jour (5-2).

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Johannes has won five of his last six starts, including a smart score in the Shoemaker Mile last out at Santa Anita on May 27. Johannes was bred and is owned by an outfit that simply calls itself Cuyathy.

Du Jour, who races in the silks of Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni, tries to add to his six victories and $1,154,220 in earnings.

Adding a touch of drama to the scenario is that the two trainers know each other well. Johannes is conditioned by Tim Yakteen, who for several years was the no. 1 assistant to Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the guy who calls the shots for Du Jour.

Also of note in the lineup is last year’s winner of the Eddie Read. Little Red Feather Racing and partners’ Gold Phoenix is an Ireland-bred gelding who was three-quarters of a length the best in this race last summer. Running second that afternoon was Balnikhov, another Little Red Feather and partners’ horse who is back for a go in this year’s edition.

Further among the past connections is the fact that Michael and Julia Iavarone, Nicholas Zoumas and Frank Argano’s Chile-bred Master Piece, who captured the Eddie Read in 2022, is also in the 2024 running of the stakes.

The Read goes as the ninth of 11 races Sunday with a scheduled post time of 9:08 p.m. EDT.