OUT OF THE GATE
DEL MAR LEADERS Through Thursday
Jockeys / Wins Juan Hernandez / 15 Hector Berrios / 13 Umberto Rispoli / 12 Edwin Maldonado / 9 Ramon Vazquez / 9
Trainers / Wins Philip D'Amato / 11 Bob Baffert / 9 Peter Miller / 8 Doug O'Neill / 7 Leonard Powell / 5
WEEKEND STAKES
DEL MAR
Today
▪ $125,000 Graduation Stakes, 2-year-olds bred in CA, 51/2 furlongs
Saturday
▪ $250,000 Grade II Yellow Ribbon Handicap, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 11/16 miles (turf) ▪ $200,000 Grade III Sorrento Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6furlongs
Sunday
▪ $200,000Grade III Best Pal Stakes, 2-year-olds, 6 furlongs ▪ Trainer Jonathan Wong was notified this week that he's been provisionally suspended after a B sample confirmed the presence of Metformin in a post-race test taken from Heaven and Earth at Indiana Downs, the Thoroughbred Daily News reported.
Wong was originally suspended July 2 after the A sample came up positive for Metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment that is banned by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. A hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for Sept. 25.
▪ Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith turned 58 Thursday and he says he has no plans to retire anytime soon. Smith's been riding for 43 years and moved to Southern California to ride full time in 2001. “As far as the way I feel, I feel like a machine,” Smith told Jim Charvat of Del Mar publicity. “I feel good. I'm really taking good care of myself and I've been working out hard. I'm still able to do everything I was doing in my thirties. I still feel great. I'm going to keep going until I don't.”
▪ Del Mar announced Thursday that Fernando Toro, officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 4, will be presented his HOF plaque and jacket during a special winner's circle ceremony following the Grade I Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 19. Toro, 82, could not travel to Saratoga Springs for the traditional induction ceremony because of health reasons. Fellow Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. will present Toro with his plaque and jacket. A tribute video of Toro's career will be shown during the event.