Del Mar: Baffert has strong duo racing 3 rivals in Clement Hirsch

Adare Manor, whose three-race winning streak includes a pair of Grade 2s, and Fun to Dream, who was perfect in her last four fast-track starts before a nearly five-month break, give trainer Bob Baffert a formidable pair of starters Saturday in the Grade 1, $400,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.

In the race for fillies and mares, five 4-year-olds were entered for the 1 1/16-mile race on the main track with a scheduled post time shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Click here for Del Mar entries and results.

Owned by Michael Lund Petersen and drawn into post 3, Adare Manor will look to lead from gate to wire as usual under Juan Hernández, the co-leader in the Del Mar jockey standings this summer. The Uncle Mo filly won by more than four lengths at Santa Anita in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Maria (G2) on April 29 and in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita (G2) on June 10.

In her only previous Grade 1 start, Adare Manor pressed the pace early before retreating to a distant, sixth-place result Sept. 24 in the Cotillion at Parx Racing.

Fun to Dream has a Grade 1 victory to her name, finishing first Dec. 26 in the seven-furlong La Brea. The Arrogate filly owned by Baffert’s wife Jill and by Connie Pageler then won the seven-furlong Santa Monica (G2) and finished second by a head to A Mo Reay in the Beholder Mile (G1). Those two races during the Santa Anita winter preceded Fun to Dream’s long break.

With Ramón Vázquez replacing Hernández in the irons, Fun to Dream will start from post 2.

Kirstenbosch, who improved last out to finish second to Adare Manor in the Santa Margarita, comes back from a 2 1/2-month spell for trainer John Sadler. A daughter of Midnight Lute, her last win was in the Jan. 15 running of the La Cañada (G3) at Santa Anita. Héctor Berríos will ride Kirstenbosch from post 4.

Desert Dawn, third to Adare Manor in the Santa Margarita, carries a 14: 2-2-5 record into the Hirsch. Winless in seven starts since the 2022 Santa Anita Oaks (G2), the Cupid filly finished second to Blue Stripe in last year’s renewal of this race. In between she was a surprising third at 50-1 in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks (G1). Phil D’Amato trains Desert Dawn, who will race from the outside post under Umberto Rispoli.

Grade 3 winner Elm Drive, a stablemate of Desert Dawn, stretches from sprints to a route of ground for the second time in her career. The Mohaymen filly finished third last month in the 6 1/2-furlong Great Lady M at Los Alamitos. She will start closest to the rail with Ricardo González up.

The National Weather Service forecast a sunny sky Saturday with a high temperature of 74 degrees at Del Mar.