Del Mar: Formidable Man, Gold Phoenix clash in Eddie Read

When you spend as many summers at Del Mar as veteran Gold Phoenix, you tend to build a nice, little, fan base. He has been the Del Mar summer meet’s top grass horse two year’s running, but there’s a new shooter on the scene, aptly named Formidable Man, who is looking to displace the king of the hill.

The two titans meet Sunday in the 52nd running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Eddie Read Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile test on the Del Mar turf. Formidable Man is the 5-2 favorite and Gold Phoenix 3-1 on the morning line.

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Gold Phoenix won the race two years ago then ran a disappointing seventh last year. The Ireland-bred is in his fourth summer at the seaside oval. He has won Del Mar’s top summer grass race for older horses, the Del Mar Handicap (G2), an unprecedented three straight years.

Gold Phoenix has run twice in 2025 and is coming off of his first trip out of California since arriving in 2021. The chestnut gelding ran fourth in the Turf Classic (G1) on Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs.

“I thought he ran a good race,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “It rained all week, and the bad part of the racecourse was the inside. Nobody was coming up the inside. Unfortunately that was the only option (jockey) Umberto (Rispoli) had. He rallied strong but caught the deeper part of the racecourse.”

D’Amato is hoping the Eddie Read will set up Gold Phoenix for another run at the Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 30.

“I think the competition is a smidge easier,” D’Amato said of the Eddie Read compared to what Gold Phoenix ran against in the Turf Classic. “We know he likes the turf course, so hopefully that’ll do the trick.”

Enter Formidable Man, the young buck looking to unseat the cagey veteran. He has put together a pretty nice résumé the last two years at Del Mar. After breaking his maiden there in 2023, he won all three of his races at Del Mar in 2024 including the Oceanside, the Del Mar Derby (G2) and the Hollywood Derby (G1).

“He thrives down here at Del Mar,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “His record here is exemplary.”

The 4-year-old son of City of Light remains in top form this year. He captured the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) at Santa Anita before running a close fourth in the Shoemaker Mile (G1).

“I thought we were just too far back,” McCarthy said. “Just the way things shaped up, he was farther back than we would have liked. It was unfortunate, because I thought he ran a winning race.”

A couple other contenders could crash Sunday’s party.

Trainer Peter Eurton brings ridgling Stay Hot to the dance. He won the La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar last year then ran second in the Del Mar Derby (G2), second in the Twilight Derby (G2) and then second again in the Mathis Mile (G2) before Eurton gave him a break.

“We’ll turn them out, so they can have an opportunity to grow a little bit,” Eurton said. “Develop and relax. Get over their long 2-year-old and 3-year-old campaigns. He was running at the end of his 2 and then the whole year. He came back, and his workouts were much different (going) 58 and change. Doing things the right way without being asked.”

The son of Summer Front made his 4-year-old debut a winning one in the Texas Turf Classic at Lone Star Park last month.

Cabo Spirit has developed into a horse to be reckoned with. He won the La Jolla Handicap and the Twilight Derby (G2) in 2022 and then went nearly two years without a victory before taking last year’s John Henry Turf Classic (G2). This year he ran third in the Kilroe Mile, just three-quarters of a length behind Formidable Man. He followed with a win in the American (G3) and then just missed in a three-way blanket finish in the Shoemaker Mile.

There’s also Atitlan, a sharp 4-year-old bay colt who has stepped up his game in 2025. He won the San Luis Rey (G3) turf marathon in March and then won the Charlie Whittingham (G2) at Santa Anita.

The Eddie Read is the ninth of 11 races Sunday at Del Mar. The scheduled post time is 9:03 p.m. EDT. The opener starts at 5 p.m.