Del Mar news: Skye Diamonds faces five in Rancho Bernardo defense
Bill Spawr-trained Skye Diamonds will face five rivals defending her title in Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for older fillies and mares at 6 ½ furlongs.
Skye Diamonds was a 1 ¼-length winner a year ago as the 5-year-old daughter of First Dude won three of four stakes assignments, two of them graded, in a six-month stretch. Skye Diamonds is 0-for-5 since, all in stakes company.
The post position draw was scheduled later Thursday. The entrants, in alphabetical order: Anonymity (Flavien Prat), Deer Valley (Drayden Van Dyke), Moonshine Memories (Mike Smith), Skye Diamonds (Tiago Pereira), Turkish Tabby (Mario Gutierrez) and Yuvetski (Tyler Baze).
INSTAGRAND MADE 1-2 FAVORITE AGAINST FOUR RIVALS IN BEST PAL
Instagrand, a $1.2 million purchase at the Fasig-Tipton sale in March, who looked well worth it in a 10-length debut victory at Los Alamitos on June 29, was established as the 1-2 favorite against five rivals for Saturday’s featured Grade 2, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes.
Raced at 6 ½ furlongs from 1993-2017, the event that serves as a prep for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on September 3, has been cut back to six furlongs for its 48th running. That would seem to be a nice stretch-out distance for Instagrand, a son of Into Mischief owned by OXO Equine LLC, whose impressive debut was at five furlongs.
“He been doing great,” Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “He’s improved in all of his works and now he’s going to run against good colts in a big race here.
“I don’t know if we chased anybody away (from the race). I just feel that the ones that are running, their trainers feel they’re ready to go now.”
The field from the rail: Instagrand (Drayden Van Dyke, 1-2), Owning (Mario Gutierrez, 5-2), Synthesis (Kent Desormeaux, 15-1), Mason Dixon (Flavien Prat, 5-1), Sparky Ville (Gary Stevens, 10-1).
Apprentice jockey Assael Espinoza was awarded a stay of the 10-day suspension handed down by stewards for causing an incident in which jockeys Corey Nakatani and Geovanni Franco were injured in Saturday’s final race, according to agent Brian Beach. The decision, handed down by judge Timothy M. Casserly in San Diego County Superior Court, means that the suspension will be on hold until an appeal can be heard at a later date.
APPRENTICE JOCKEY ESPINOZA AWARDED STAY OF SUSPENSION