Miller not worried about Surrender Now's inside draw in Sorrento
Drawing post position No. 1 is often the No. 1 worry for trainers. But, the die having been cast, trainer Peter Miller doesn’t see it as that big an obstacle for Landaluce Stakes winner Surrender Now in Saturday’s $200,000 Grade II Sorrento Stakes for two-year-old fillies.
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Miller said by phone Friday from his stable headquarters at San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall. “She’s very fast, she should be able to get away well and then we’ll let (jockey Flavien Prat) take it from there.
“They could go to the front, but there’s some other speed in the race, and if they want the lead we’ll let them have it and sit off it.”
Miller also will saddle Midnight Summer, a debut winner by 4 ¼ lengths at 5 ½ furlongs here two weeks ago. Surrender Now, whose victory in the $100,000 Landaluce was achieved on July 2 at Santa Anita, has been working faster than her stablemate at San Luis Rey Downs, by design.
“One just ran a couple weeks ago and the other hasn’t raced in more than a month. They’re on different schedules,” Miller said.
The field from the rail: The field from the rail: Surrender Now (Flavien Prat, 9-5), Spectator (Jamie Theriot, 5-2), Dancing Belle (Kent Desormeaux, 12-1), Terra’s Angel (Sasha Risenhoover, 20-1), Spirit of Shanghai (Joe Talamo, 12-1), Diamondsandpearls (Mike Smith, 8-5) and Midnight Summer (Edwin Maldonado, 15-1).
BIRTHDAY NO. 25 FOR PRAT; ROMAN OPENS FOUR-WIN LEAD
Jockey Flavien Prat marks his 25th birthday today with three scheduled mounts and needing four wins to catch up to red hot apprentice Evin Roman in the jockey standings.
Prat shared the 2016 summer meeting riding title with Rafael Bejarano as both notched 38 wins in the 39-day session. They’re tied again, with 11 wins through 12 cards of a 36-day meeting, but find themselves four behind Roman.
Roman had three wins and two runner-up finishes from his first five mounts on Thursday. Prat won the seventh race aboard Ike Walker ($6.00) for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Bejarano went 0-for-3.
THEIR BREEDERS’ CUP RUNNETH POSSIBLE FOR DEL MAR 2017
Del Mar hosts the 34th running of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 3-4. It consists of 13 races with purses totaling more than $28 million over the two days capped by the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Friday, November 3 and the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, November 4.
A victory in a “Win and You’re In” Challenge series race, of which there are 81 from January to October, guarantees a spot in a Breeders’ Cup race and other considerations.
Here are the horses who have qualified to date.
| Winner | Race | Date | BC Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Eagle | L’Ormarins Queens Plate Kenilworth, South Africa | January 7 | Mile |
| Bela-Bela | Main Chance Farms Paddock Kenilworth, South Africa | January 7 | F&M Turf |
| Gold Dream | February Stakes Tokyo, Japan | February 19 | Classic |
| Chautauqua | Darley TJ Smith Stakes Randwick, Australia | April 1 | Turf Sprint |
| Somewhat | Star Doncaster Mile Randwick, Australia | April 1 | Mile |
| Foxplay | Queen of the Turf Randwick, Australia | April 1 | F&M Turf |
| Kiriaki | Gran Premio Criadores Palermo, Argentina | May 1 | Distaff |
| Ordak Dan | Grab Premio 25 de Mayo Palermo, Argentina | May 25 | Turf |
| Top Casablanca | Hipico de Santiago Falabella Club Hipico de Santiago, Chile | May 28 | Mile |
| Bal a Bali | Shoemaker Mile Santa Anita | June 3 | Mile |
| Satono Aladdin | Yasuda Kinen Tokyo, Japan | June 4 | Mile |
| Mor Spirit | Metropolitan Mile Belmont Park, N.Y. | June 10 | Dirt Mile |
| Songbird | Ogden Phipps Belmont Park, N.Y. | June 10 | Distaff |
| Voador Magee | Grande Premio Brasil Hippodromo de Gavea, Brazil | June 11 | Turf |
| Forever Unbridled | Fleur de Lis Churchill Downs, Ky. | June 17 | Distaff |
| Gun Runner | Stephen Foster Churchill Downs, Ky. | June 17 | Classic |
| Satono Crown | Takarazuka Kinen Hanshin, Japan | June 25 | Turf |
| Birdie Gold | Gran Premio Pamplona Hippodomo de Monterrico, Peru | June 25 | F&M Turf |
| Curlin’s Approval | Princess Rooney Gulfstream Park, Fla. | July 1 | F&M Sprint |
| Imperial Hint | Smile Sprint Stakes Gulfstream Park, Fla. | July 1 | Sprint |
| Green Mask | Highlander Stakes Woodbine, Canada | July 2 | Turf Sprint |
| Mind Your Biscuits | Belmont Sprint Championship Belmont Park, N.Y. | July 8 | Sprint |
| Enable | King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Ascot, England | July 29 | Turf |
| Ransom The Moon | Bing Crosby Del Mar | July 29 | Sprint |
| Girvin | Haskell Invitational Monmouth Park, N.J. | July 30 | Classic |
| Stellar Wind | Clement L. Hirsch Del Mar | July 30 | Distaff |
| Here Comes When | Quatar Sussex Goodwood, England | August 2 | Mile |
The lone “Win and You’re In” qualifier upcoming this weekend is the Whitney, Saturday at Saratoga. It features Gun Runner and offers a spot in the Classic.
SHARP SAMURAI, SMOKEM FAVORED IN SUNDAY STAKES
Mark Glatt-trained Sharp Samurai was made the 5-2 favorite for Sunday’sGrade III $150,000 La Jolla Handicap and Gary Sherlock’s Smokem the 7-2 choice for the $100,000 Graduation Stakes on the same card in morning lines posted by oddsmaker Russ Hudak on Friday.
Sharp Samurai, a Kentucky-bred son of First Samurai, enters the La Jolla, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for 3-year-olds, off a victory in the Rainbow Stakes on June 10 at Santa Anita.
Smokem, a son of Union Rags, was a 2 ¼-length winner in his racing debut at five furlongs here on July 21 and will be asked to go another 110 yards in the Graduation for two-year-old California-breds.
The La Jolla from the rail: Fashion Business (Joe Talamo, 8-1), Colonist (Flavien Prat, 7-2), Placido (Rafael Bejarano, 6-1), Pioneer Lad (Tyler Baze, 6-1), Offshore (Evin Roman, 20-1), Caribou Club (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1), Sharp Samurai (Gary Stevens, 5-2), Double Touch (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1) and Monster Man (Santiago Gonzalez, 9-2).
The Graduation from the rail: Sir Valentine (Martin Pedroza, 8-1), Smokem (Evin Roman, 7-2), Bookies Luck (Martin Garcia, 8-1), Schulace (Rafael Bejarano, 9-2), Hit The Seam (Mario Gutierrez, 12-1), Utah Ute (Jamie Theriot, 6-1), Cono (Flavien Prat, 8-1), Get Em Up Scout (Geovanni Franco, 20-1), Don’t Stalk Me (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1), Drizzy (Joe Talamo, 5-1) and Continental Divide (Victor Espinoza, 8-1).
CLOSERS – Happy Birthday to trainer Mike Puype, 51 … Selected works from 119 officially timed Friday morning: Monterey Shale (4f, :46.80), Danzing Candy (5f, 1:00.20), Noted and Quoted (5f, :59.00), Paradise Woods (6f, 1:13.60) and Saldamente (6f, 1:12.20) … Desert Steel, the 5-2 morning line favorite, has been withdrawn from today’s featured $75,000 Daisycutter Handicap.
Source: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club