Midnight Storm Switches to Dirt in Native Diver

Midnight Storm, whose more than $1.28 million in career earnings have been achieved mostly in grass races, will be switched back to dirt for Sunday’s $100,000 Native Diver Stakes.

 

The 5-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile has made 10 of his last 11 starts on turf, the lone exception being a last-of-10 result behind Beholder in the 2015 Pacific Classic. Trained by Phil D’Amato for an owning partnership of Vanneri Racing Inc. and Little Red Feather Stable, Midnight Storm has made his last eight starts on grass while notching four wins, among them the 2015 Seabiscuit at the Bing Crosby meeting and, last summer, the Grade II Eddie Read and Grade II Del Mar Mile.

 

In his last start, Midnight Storm was a creditable third, at 13-1, in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. 

 

The field from the rail: Hard Aces (Santiago Gonzalez, 3-1), Ebadan (Joe Talamo, 20-1), Pretentious (Jamie Theriot, 20-1), Imperative (Kent Desormeaux, 5-2), Blue Tone (Gary Stevens, 4-1), Point Piper (Mario Gutierrez, 8-1) and Midnight Storm (Flavien Prat, 2-1).

 

SWORD FIGHTER FAVORED FOR SUNDAY’S CECIL B. DeMILLE: Sword Fighter, a New York-bred son of Wildcat Heir trained by Peter Miller, was established as the 5-2 favorite in a field  of nine for Sunday’s Grade III $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for  two-year-olds at one mile on the turf.

 

Sword Fighter won at first asking at Santa Anita in October and was fourth in the $100,000 Juvenile Turf Sprint there on November 5.

 

The field from the rail: Popular Kid (Modesto Linares, 30-1), Curly’s  Waterfront (Tyler Baze, 10-1), Offshore (Kent Desormeaux, 9-2), Hootie (Victor Espinoza, 7-2), Conscripted (Alex Solis, 6-1), Sword Fighter (Santiago Gonzalez, 5-2), Term of  Art (Joe Talamo, 10-1), Vending Machine (Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 10-1) and Kentucky Colonel (Mike Smith, 6-1).

 

JOCKEY RACE VERY CLOSE; MILLER SEPARATES FROM OTHER TRAINERS: With three wins on Thanksgiving Day, Norberto Arroyo, Jr. moved into a tie with Flavien Prat for the lead in the jockey standings. Arroyo and Prat have eight wins each, Santiago Gonzalez has seven and Victor Espinoza six.

 

Arroyo’s wins on Thursday came aboard Poshsky (3^rd, $5.40), Bad Ju Ju (6^th, $6.60) and Big Champion (8^th, $2.60).

 

The victories on Poshsky and Bad Ju Ju came for trainer Peter Miller, who also saddled Drover Crazy (4^th, $7.00) in a three-win day that moved him four ahead of a trio of pursuers atop  the trainer standings.

 

Miller has nine wins. Doug O’Neill, Mike Puype and Richard Baltas are next with five.

 

RAIN THREAT PROMPTS TURF TRAINING CHANGE: With rain prominent in weekend forecasts, turf workouts, normally conducted on Sundays, will be held Saturday instead, the racing office has advised.

 

Isotherm and Miss Temple City, nominated to the Grade I Hollywood Derby and Grade I Matriarch, respectively, on the December 3-4 closing weekend, are among the expected turf workers.

FERRALL, DOCHE TO GUEST ON WEEKEND HANDICAPPING SEMINARS: Longtime Northern California racing publicist Tom Ferrall will be the guest on Saturday and Marc Doche will join host Scott Shapiro on Sunday for the weekend handicapping seminars.

 

The seminars are conducted from 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. each day at the Seaside Terrace near the top of the stretch.

 

 

CLOSERS – The victory in Thursday’s Red Carpet Stakes by Nuovo Record, the first horse from Japan to race at Del Mar, was big news in the 5-year-old mare’s native land, meriting newspaper stories  and several pictures on the Japanese Racing Association website. Nuovo Record will ship from Del Mar on Monday to Hong Kong and a next start in the Hong Kong Cup in December … Ralis, the only 3-year-old entered, was scratched Friday morning from the day’s featured Hollywood Turf Cup, reducing the field to six.

Source: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club