DEL MAR, Calif. – Even though the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity ranks among the most significant stakes of the summer season, the 2-year-old sprint race is well hidden on Sunday, closing day.
The $300,000 Futurity is buried early on the card in race 4, with no place and show wagering.
The Del Mar Futurity may be squirreled away, but the race favorite is front and center. Brant became instantly famous after he was purchased in spring for $3 million. When he popped a 101 Beyer Speed Figure first time out, the highest this season by a 2-year-old, his reputation grew.
Brant crushed maidens by more than five lengths, and is the even-money program favorite in the $300,000 Futurity, a race with six entrants from just two stables. Bob Baffert trains four – Brant, Grade 3 winner Desert Gate, and maiden winners Balboa and Litmus Test. Doug O’Neill entered two maidens – Civil Liberty, who finished second to Brant first out, and Brigante, placed in a Grade 3.
The seven-furlong Futurity is mostly about Brant, a Gun Runner colt who hit the ground running this spring. Purchased at the OBS March 2-year-olds in training sale by owner Amr Zedan, Brant posted his first California workout in April, and made his career debut July 26 at Del Mar.
“Sometimes when they come here out of 2-year-old in training [sales], you have to wait a few weeks to see how their mind is,” Baffert said. “But he just fell in here. He’s got a great mind. We’ve been really fortunate. He’s never had a bad day.”
Baffert said he “never let [Brant] run in the morning,” but the gray colt was odds-on first out under Flavien Prat. He chased from third, angled out and ran away. The third- and fourth-place finishers validated the race by scoring decisive maiden wins next out.
Brant, whose auction price was based partly on his blazing 9.60 breeze at the sale, has been trained in California to ration his speed. “I didn’t want him to be an on-the-engine type of horse,” Baffert said. “I didn’t want him to go too fast.”
Based on his only start, Brant is not a speedball. He rated kindly in third to win his debut, and his versatility should serve him well in the Futurity. But can he reproduce his triple-digit Beyer? Since 2010, some 31 juveniles ran again after earning a triple-digit fig. American Pharoah in 2014 is the only triple-digit juvenile whose speed figure did not decline next out.
While it is likely Brant will rally from behind in the Futurity, stablemate Desert Gate will try to win it with speed. A stone front-runner, Desert Gate won his debut in June at Santa Anita, then crushed the Grade 3 Best Pal by more than six lengths at Del Mar.
“Desert Gate, he’s quick. He’s fast,” Baffert said. “He won the Best Pal just cruising around there.”
Juan Hernandez, who rode Desert Gate his first two starts, rides him in the Futurity.
Baffert also entered Balboa and Litmus Test. Litmus Test won his debut by three-quarters of a length. Balboa finished third to Brant first out, then won a maiden race by more than seven.
“Litmus Test is going to be better with distance,” Baffert said. “Balboa and Litmus Test, they’re more two-turn type horses.”
Tyler Gafflione is named on Litmus Test. Kazushi Kimura is on Balboa. Baffert has won the Del Mar Futurity a record 18 times, including the last four.
Civil Liberty, an Independence Hall colt trained by O’Neill, is the most likely upsetter despite finishing 5 1/4 lengths behind Brant first out. Civil Liberty dueled early, finished more than three lengths clear of third, and ran fast. He earned an 87 Beyer.
“We were excited about his debut,” O’Neill said. “He ran really, really well. We kind of treated it like he won, and have been pointing to [the Futurity] since. Hopefully a good post [4], and a good, clean break and he’s a little bit more mature this time. Anything can happen.”
Antonio Fresu rides Civil Liberty, while O’Neill’s second starter, Brigante, will be ridden by Hector Berrios from the inside post. Brigante finished third to Desert Gate in the Best Pal, beaten more than nine lengths. Brigante will undergo an equipment change Sunday.
“We’ve added cheek pieces, which are not blinkers, but something to help him focus a little bit more,” O’Neill said. Brigante’s exercise riders have told O’Neill the colt has improved with the new equipment.
O’Neill’s best shot in the Futurity is Civil Liberty. “We need to break really well, and Brant needs to not break really well, that would definitely help,” O’Neill joked. “All these horses, you just hope they keep maturing and evolve and [keep] getting a little bit better with each start.”
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