Jasikan seeks a Del Mar double in the La Jolla Handicap

A field of eight, among them Runhappy Oceanside Stakes winner Jasikan, was entered for Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,00 La Jolla Handicap, the second leg in the three-race grass stakes series for 3-year-olds at Del Mar.

The series concludes with the Sept. 1 Del Mar Derby on (G2).

Jasikan is one of five horses that will compete in the first two races of the series. A winner by a nose over Nolde in the one-mile Run Happy Oceanside, Jasikan, owned by Hronis Racing and trained by John Sadler, will be joined by Rijeka (third), Golden Birthday (fourth), Gregorian Chant (fifth) and King of Speed (11th) in the 1 1/16-mile La Jolla.

“(Jasikan) had a nice breeze on the turf and he looks good,” Sadler said. “The Del Mar Derby (at 1 1/8 miles) may be too long for him, so we’ll try him at this distance and possibly skip the Derby.”

Entrants, in post position order, are: Neptune’s Storm (Drayden Van Dyke), Kingly (Mario Gutierrez), Gregorian Chant (Norberto Arroyo, Jr.), Golden Birthday (Joe Talamo), Stubbins (Rafael Bejarano), Jasikan (Flavien Prat), King of Speed (Victor Espinoza) and Rijeka (Ruben Fuentes).

Bred in Ireland, Jasikan also started his career there, racing twice before heading to California, where he's 2-for-3 after rallying from last to first to win the Oceanside when off at 9-5. He should be similarly favored in the La Jolla as Kingly, a stakes winner on synthetic, makes his turf debut and Neptune's Storm, a back-to-back Santa Anita Stakes winner, carries the race's high weight of 124 pounds.