Schrodinger still probable for Futurity

DEL MAR, Calif. – Schrodinger, scratched from the Best Pal as the morning-line favorite on Saturday, seems to be rebounding from his brief high temperature and should be on course for the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day Sept. 2, according to trainer Simon Callaghan.

“With these things, I’ve found you should be all right in four or five days if you don’t stress the horse,” Callaghan said. “We’ll monitor his temperature, and if his energy is good, he should go back to training this week and we should be in a good spot. I’m pretty confident we can make the Futurity.”

The Best Pal was won by Collusion Illusion, who was part of a banner weekend for trainer Mark Glatt, who also won the Longacres Mile on Sunday with Law Abidin Citizen.

Glatt said after the Best Pal that he’d wait to decide regarding the Futurity, which comes up 23 days after the Best Pal. If he runs, it would be the third start of the meet for Collusion Illusion, who won on debut July 21 against maidens.

The Futurity likely picked up a potential contender on Saturday when Storm the Court won a maiden race under Flavien Prat in his first start.

“I was proud of him,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “They took three runs at him and he wouldn’t let them by. He’s 16-1 [hands], but he’s lean. He’s got a great mind, too.”

Eurton said Storm the Court would run in the Futurity “if he does everything right” over the next three weeks.

Storm the Court, by Court Vision, was a $60,000 buy at OBS in April. Eurton thinks he’ll be even better going longer.

“I would think so. Flavien says he wants to go farther, especially if you can use his speed as a weapon,” Eurton said. – Jay Privman

D’Amato well stocked in stakes

It will be nearly impossible for trainer Phil D’Amato to win the training title at the current Del Mar summer meeting. A rough first two weeks, in which his stable had one win from 27 runners, makes that goal extremely difficult before the meeting ends Sept. 2.

Through Sunday, D’Amato was tied for seventh in the standings with six wins, 10 fewer than leader Doug O’Neill. Until Sunday, when O’Neill had two runner-up finishes, D’Amato and O’Neill were tied for the most seconds at the meet with nine.

“I was the leading trainer in seconds and I’m trying to be the leading trainer in firsts,” D’Amato said. “The horses are running good. I had some tough beats, a couple of noses and heads.”

D’Amato is aiming for better results in the final weeks of the season and will start a bevy of stakes runners in important races. This weekend, D’Amato plans to run Acclimate in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf and as many as three runners in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Mile on turf.

Acclimate won the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Handicap at about 1 3/4 miles on turf in June at Santa Anita. There is a chance D’Amato also may run Red King, who was third in the San Juan Capistrano.

The race is led by Marckie’s Water, winner of the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita in May, and Itsinthepost, a seven-time stakes winner since the spring of 2017.

In the Del Mar Mile, D’Amato is running Bowies Hero, Prince Earl, and What a View. Bowies Hero won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 21. Prince Earl has not raced since a fourth in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby last December. What a View was third in the California Dreamin’ Handicap for California-breds on July 26 in his first start of the year.

D’Amato is enthusiastic about Prince Earl’s chances, despite the layoff. Prince Earl worked in company in recent weeks with Andesh, who won an optional claimer Saturday.

The Del Mar Mile field includes Bolo, who won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May, and Bombard, who won the Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf July 21.

– Steve Andersen

Safety measures working

Through the first four weeks of the meet, not a single horse has suffered a catastrophic injury in a race, as Del Mar has changed the narrative in Southern California following a tumultuous season at Santa Anita that had all eyes on safety heading into the meeting here.

“We’re still holding our breath,” Joe Harper, the track’s chief executive, said late on the card on Sunday. Harper cited extensive safety protocols, including additional veterinary oversight, as reasons for the run of good fortune.

“We’re delighted with the things we’ve got in place. They’re working,” he said. “And we’re delighted with the cooperation we’re getting from trainers.”

There have been four fatalities during training hours, including two who died in a freak head-on collision July 18. Two others had catastrophic injuries during workouts, including the unraced 3-year-old filly Bri Bri, who on Monday suffered a pelvis injury galloping out following a half-mile gate drill for trainer Jim Cassidy. Del Mar officials confirmed her identity, and that her injuries necessitated her being euthanized.

– Jay Privman