California racing cruises into cool, coastal Del Mar on Friday, and it will be nice to escape the inland heat at Santa Anita, where most horses and horsemen have been holed up since autumn. Trainer Richard Mandella looks forward to the change.
“I’ve always loved going to Del Mar, especially now that we’re [at Santa Anita] so long and it gets so hot and dry,” Mandella said this week. “But once you’re at Del Mar for [seven] weeks, you kind of miss Santa Anita and you can’t wait to get back.”
There is no turning back Friday, opening day of the Del Mar summer meet that runs through Sept. 7. Mandella starts improving Day and Age in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, a restricted stakes for 3-year-olds led by Iron Man Cal.
Opening day is a big social event in the San Diego area; Friday openers historically top 21,000 fans. General admission is $70 plus tax opening day, though bettors are not required to actually attend the races to enjoy them. Since the 2020 lockdown, live attendance is less of a priority. The emphasis at Del Mar is handle, and there is plenty for the nation’s horseplayers to bet on Friday.
The Oceanside, race 8 on a 10-race card, is the first leg of a new Del Mar wager – a daily $3 pick three with a 15 percent takeout on the final three races. Del Mar also added a $5 daily double with a 15 percent takeout on the final two races. The $1 traditional pick six returns with a 23.68 percent takeout and 80-20 split on the final six races.
Oceanside favorite Iron Man Cal figures among the most heavily fancied starters Friday. Runner-up last fall in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Iron Man Cal drops off a creditable sixth-place comeback in the Grade 1 American Turf at Churchill Downs. Racing on “good” turf in his first start in six months, Iron Man Cal missed by only 4 4 1/4 lengths.
“It poured all week, and [jockey Antonio] Fresu said he was spinning his wheels a little bit on that turf,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “He likes it hard. That was a tough race.”
Four runners from the American Turf won their next start including 6-for-7 winner Zulu Kingdom. D’Amato also entered Lyle The Crocodile in the Oceanside.
Iron Man Cal, a pace-presser/stalker, is the 9-5 favorite by new track linemaker John Lies. The Oceanside is the first leg of a three-race turf series for 3-year-olds. The $150,000 La Jolla Handicap is Aug. 3 and the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby is on Aug. 31.
While Iron Man Cal’s trainer, D’Amato, has won three Oceanside Stakes, no trainer won more than John Sadler, who starts longshot Cali Cat. Sadler won the Ocean-side five times and is Del Mar’s second-leading trainer of all time. Bob Baffert has 653 wins, including 178 stakes; Sadler has 566 Del Mar wins and is second-leading stakes trainer with 86.
“We have a really good career record down there,” Sadler said. “I like the change; it’s a great part of the state.”
Sadler, who won with 16 of his last 41 starters at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos, is loaded Friday with contenders Ready to Pounce in race 1 and Betterdaysrcoming in race 4; first-time gelding Cathal in race 6; and potential favorite Lady Chic in race 10. Cali Cat is 12-1 in the Oceanside, but Sadler likes his chances.
“I think I have the winner,” he bullishly stated. Cali Cat finished second last out in the Snow Chief Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds, his first route since last year at 1 1/8 miles. “It was just a little far for him,” Sadler said.
Cali Cat shortens to a mile Friday under Vincent Cheminaud, as regular rider Juan Hernandez moves to Artislas, a two-time stakes winner trained by Jeff Mullins. Artislas, the 4-1 second choice, drops off a disappointing fifth his most recent start two months ago.
The pace of the Oceanside could be set by Kale’s Angel, a three-time sprint-stakes winner on dirt and synthetic, whose ability to stay two turns is questionable.
As for Mandella-trained pace-presser Day and Age, he lost his first four starts before he switched to turf and won maiden and allowance races. The surface moved him up. “It wasn’t my training,” Mandella joked. Mike Smith rides Day and Age, co-third choice at 6-1.
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