ARCADIA, Calif. – Ten years after winning his first Grade 1, Phil D’Amato could reach a career milestone on Memorial Day at Santa Anita in the same race that helped put the trainer on the map – the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile.
“I like this race, it’s been good to me,” D’Amato said.
D’Amato scored his first Grade 1 with 2014 Shoemaker winner Obviously, the trainer’s first of four Shoemaker victories. The wins kept coming, and D’Amato’s next Grade 1 will be the 20th of his career. It’s an easy-to-remember milestone.
“That would be nice – a nice, even number, and hopefully more to come,” D’Amato said. “Easter, hopefully we can knock out a Grade 1 and have him on a path to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Easter will try to turn the tables on Du Jour on Monday in the Shoemaker, race 11. D’Amato also starts Conclude in the Shoemaker. His up-and-coming turf mare Uncorked meets front-runner Ruby Nell in the Grade 1 Gamely for turf fillies and mares, race 9. The card also includes the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup, race 10.
Easter and stablemate Conclude are among a deep field in a Shoemaker loaded with speed. The pace scenario is one reason Easter’s outside post – 11 of 11 – might be less problematic. Easter and jockey Antonio Fresu can drop in, settle, and blast home. But it’s not that simple.
The lineup includes Grade 2 winners Easter and Conclude, and Grade 1 winner Du Jour; Grade 3 winners War At Sea, Goliad, and Johannes; Grade 1 dirt winner There Goes Harvard; Grade 2 sprint winner Air Force Red; stakes winners Irideo, Funtastic Again; and Dominican Pioneer.
All four Shoemaker winners trained by D’Amato began careers with other trainers, same as Easter. The gelding won two of eight in France, and three of his first nine U.S. starts for Graham Motion. Easter, owned by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stables, was transferred to D’Amato in late 2023.
“He was a little hard to figure out,” D’Amato said. Easter wants to be the boss. “We figured out the path of least resistance with him – let him do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. He likes to train when there are a lot of horses out on the track, and a lot of company to zig-zag through. When he’s the only horse out there, he doesn’t really like to train.”
:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.
Easter won the Grade 2 Seabiscuit last fall at Del Mar and Grade 2 San Gabriel in December at Santa Anita for D’Amato. Last out as the Kilroe favorite, Easter lost to Du Jour by two lengths.
“I thought it was a good effort,” D’Amato said. “Do I think it was his best? Probably not. The winner got the most perfect trip imaginable, cutting through inside and not stopping, and we went [very] wide.”
Easter has worked super since, and his closing style fits the race. Front-runners include Air Force Red, Dominican Pioneer, and speed-of-the-speed Goliad. Another speed horse is a comebacker trained by D’Amato making his first start since he won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby last year.
“Conclude is coming back like a freak,” D’Amato said. Conclude, 4 for 6 against 3-year-olds, returns with a series of flashy workouts. He runs near the lead, but won his final two starts from second under his rider, Hector Berrios. The colt’s owners are Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, and the estate of the late Brereton Jones, who owned the colt’s dam, 2012 Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can.
Du Jour should vie for Shoemaker favoritism following a career-best victory in the Kilroe. A gelding by Temple City, Du Jour benefited from a ground-saving trip under Flavien Prat to win by two lengths. Bob Baffert trains Du Jour, the most accomplished horse in the Shoemaker field with six wins and $1,118,220 in earnings from 17 starts.
Baffert, whose focus is dirt horses, has won seven Grade 1 turf races in his career. The Kilroe was Baffert’s first Grade 1 victory on turf since 2009.
The past decade in California, D’Amato has dominated the turf division. “That’s been our focus, because that’s been in our wheelhouse budget-wise, as opposed to the high-dollar dirt horses,” he said.
Monday in the Shoemaker, Easter will try to add to D’Amato’s Grade 1 win total (currently 14 on turf, five on dirt). To win the Shoemaker, Easter must outfinish Baffert-trained Du Jour in an intriguing finale on an interesting holiday card.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.