Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Van Dyke game for title chase
ARCADIA, Calif. – Since Drayden Van Dyke won his first riding title at Del Mar on Sept. 3, he has celebrated his 24th birthday and won three stakes at Kentucky Downs and Los Alamitos.
On Friday’s first day of the autumn meeting at Santa Anita, Van Dyke has five mounts on the nine-race program and the job of trying to win his first riding title there.
“Hopefully, I can pick up where I left at Del Mar,” he said between workouts Wednesday morning. “I hope to keep getting on the right horses.”
Van Dyke has an excellent chance in Friday’s feature, the Grade 3 Eddie D Stakes on the hillside turf course. Van Dyke rides Stormy Liberal, who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar last November. At Del Mar, Van Dyke rode Stormy Liberal to two wins, including a nose victory in the Green Flash Handicap at five furlongs on turf Aug. 17.
Trained by Peter Miller, Stormy Liberal has won 7 of 13 starts on the hillside course.
“He may be better off the hill,” Van Dyke said. “I know him well.”
Van Dyke, who won two riding titles at Los Alamitos in 2014, will contend for the Santa Anita title with colleagues such as Tyler Baze and Flavien Prat. Van Dyke rode sparingly at Los Alamitos in recent weeks and said Wednesday he is ready to be more active.
“I like to keep busy,” Van Dyke said. “I like to have days off, but not for too long. You can lose racing fitness by not riding.”
Saturday, Van Dyke has mounts in two of the four Grade 1 races that are preps for the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2-3. Van Dyke rides Cambodia in the Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares on turf and Der Lu in the Chandelier Stakes for 2-yearold fillies.
The other two Grade 1 races are the Awesome Again Stakes for 3-year-olds and up and the American Pharoah Stakes for 2-year-olds. The Awesome Again Stakes is led by Accelerate, winner of three Grade 1 races in Southern California this year.
Martin Garcia hospitalized
Jockey Martin Garcia was expected to be hospitalized overnight Wednesday after being unseated in a morning workout at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Thom Mitchell.
Garcia was working Orca for trainer Ron McAnally when he was unseated while pulling up the 2-year-old filly.
Garcia struck his head in the fall, which prompted doctors to keep the rider in the hospital for observation, Mitchell said.
“They’re being cautious because it’s a head deal,” Mitchell said. “I talked to him. He’s groggy. I think he hit his head pretty hard.
“We worked that horse three furlongs. I think he might have lost an iron, but I’m not exactly sure what has happened.”
Orca was not injured in the incident, according to McAnally’s assistant, Dan Landers.
Garcia, 33, is best known for winning the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Bayern. In addition, he has won such major races as the 2010 Preakness Stakes on Lookin At Lucky, the 2011 Kentucky Oaks on Plum Pretty, and the 2017 Pacific Classic on Collected, Garcia’s most recent Grade 1 win.
This year, Garcia has won 26 races from 214 mounts.
Tatters to Riches sidelined
A quarter crack and ensuing foot abscess has derailed Tatters to Riches, the California-based stakes winner who would have been among the favorites in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday at Remington Park.
Trainer Jeff Mullins confirmed Wednesday that Tatters to Riches would not travel and will be out of serious training until recovering from an abscess in his left front.
“If it was just a quarter crack, he’d probably be training already,” Mullins said. “With the abscess, it’s going to take longer.”
Tatters to Riches won the Shared Belief Stakes on Aug. 25 at Del Mar, his second win since returning from a layoff necessitated by a bone chip as a 2-year-old. Tatters to Riches, a Union Rags colt purchased for $1 million at a 2-year-old sale, has won 3 of 4 starts, all for Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal.
Despite the emergence of a quarter crack early this month, Tatters to Riches posted two sharp recent works, including a six-furlong work Sept. 17.
“Two days later, the abscess came out, and that was the end of it,” Mullins said.
The setback is untimely, but relatively minor. Mullins looks forward to the colt’s 4-year-old campaign.
“If we can keep him together until his older year, we should be sitting in the driver’s seat,” he said.
Black, stable part ways
Old English Rancho and trainer Kenny Black recently parted ways, with the stable’s runners now based with trainers Dan Blacker, Hector Palma, and Phil D’Amato.
D’Amato said Wednesday that he has three runners owned by Old English Rancho, including What a View, the multiple stakes winner who won the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in 2016. Trainer Dan Blacker said that three horses from Old English Rancho have joined his stable. Palma received two horses, according to Old English Rancho farm manager Jonny Hilvers.
Hilvers declined to elaborate on the relocation. Black was not immediately available for comment.
Black, 54, has won five races from 53 starters this year, including the Grade 3 American Stakes with What a View at Santa Anita in April.
Stronach 5 wager debuts
The $1 Stronach 5, a pick five bet with a 12 percent takeout, begins a six-week run Friday with two races from Gulfstream Park and one each from Golden Gate Fields, Laurel Park, and Santa Anita.
The bet, which will be held on Fridays through Nov. 2, showcases races at tracks owned by The Stronach Group.
Friday’s Stronach 5 has a guaranteed pool of $50,000 and consists of the ninth race at Laurel, at 5:26 p.m. Eastern, followed by the fourth race at Santa Anita at 5:32 p.m., the eighth at Gulfstream Park at 5:38 p.m., the fourth at Golden Gate Fields at 5:50 p.m., and the ninth at Gulfstream Park at 6:08 p.m.
The bet could have a carryover to the following Friday if there are no tickets with five winners.