Del Mar: D'Amato, Baffert each send out 2 for Kathryn Crosby
It’s the track. Not the weather, or the beach or the restaurants (though they come in close behind) but the track that attracts horsemen and women to Del Mar in the fall. Many of the trainers who have set up shop at the seaside oval for the next four weeks will tell you they choose to bring their horses to Del Mar, rather than shuttling them in for the races, because of the racing surface.
“November at Del Mar is probably the best track we have,” trainer Peter Miller says. “because there are so few horses, the surface is great and the weather is cool. It’s the best track we have all year on this circuit in my opinion.”
Miller has brought a string of 20 horses to Del Mar this fall and he plans to shuttle in horses from the San Luis Rey Training Center in nearby Bonsal, much like he does during the summer meet. Miller also owns a home 10 minutes from the track so he has a personal affection for Del Mar.
But he’s not alone in his opinion. Phil D’Amato is back to defend his training title at Del Mar and he echoes Miller’s sentiments.
“It’s a track where there’s not a lot of traffic,” he says. “It’s fresh and horses seem to get over it better. And you can race horses on the grass as well. It suits my barn very well."
Both D’Amato and Miller will have horses running in the $75,000 Kathryn Crosby, the feature race on Saturday. Nine fillies and mares have been entered in the one mile test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. D’Amato’s Dolce Zel is the morning line favorite.
“She’s a new filly into my barn,” D’Amato says. “I’ve had her for a couple of months and she’s training very well. I think it’s a good race to get her started.”
D’Amato also brings Turnerloose back to Del Mar. The 4-year old daughter of Nyquist ran twice at Del Mar over the summer, finishing fifth in the Yellow Ribbon (G2) and second to Closing Remarks in the John Mabee (G2). She subsequently ran last in the Rodeo Drive (G2) at Santa Anita.
“She came out of the race a little sick so she had a valid excuse there,” D’Amato says. “She’s run well on the Del Mar surface, so with a class relief and a happy filly hopefully we’ll get a better performance.”
Miller brings Free and Humble into the Kathryn Crosby. She ran three times during the Del Mar summer meet, finishing third in an entry level allowance before winning at that level in her next race. She then ran sixth in the John Mabee. The 3-year old daughter of Free Drop Billy was third last out in the $100,000 Unzippped at Santa Anita behind Ruby Nell, who won the Autumn Miss (G3) last Sunday.
“It’s a tough spot again for her but she’s doing well,” Miller says. “We gotta run her. She still has the two-X allowance condition but that race doesn’t come up until the end of the meet and we don’t want to wait another month with her. So we’re going to give it a go.”
He expects Free and Humble to stalk third or fourth in the race, which features two entries from trainer Bob Baffert. Ganadora returns to the turf. She has 10 career starts but only one on the grass. Baffert also brings Lucky For You, a daughter of Uncle Mo, who hasn’t raced since August at Del Mar when she ran sixth in a non-winners of two allowance race.
The Kathryn Crosby is the seventh of nine races on the Saturday card. It’s named after the popular actress of the 1950s and wife of Del Mar founder Bing Crosby. Post time for the stakes race is 3:30 p.m.