What's next for impressive weekend winner at Del Mar?

Pappacap, an impressive 4 3/4-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,500 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar, was comfortably ensconced in his stall Sunday morning while Allen Hardy-Zukowski saw to the regular routine in his role as overseer for the Del Mar string of Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse.

Pappacap, a 2-year-old son of Gun Runner, “looks good and ate up well,” Hardy-Zukowsky said. “Now he’ll rest a day or two before going back to the track, and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Casse watched the race in New York, where he had been inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs a day earlier, and soon was on the phone with Hardy-Zukowsky.

“He was ecstatic, very happy for the horse and for the owner (Gary Barber),” the assistant reported. The $300,000 Del Mar Futurity (G1) on closing day, Monday, Sept. 6, would be a logical next step for Pappacap. In the past 12 years, four horses have gone on from victory in the Best Pal to take the Futurity: Lookin At Lucky (2009), J P’s Gusto (2010), Nyquist (2015) and Klimt (2016).