Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Matriarch lures Got Stormy
DEL MAR, Calif. – Got Stormy, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita earlier this month, will make another trip west, this time for the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch Stakes on Dec. 1, closing day of Del Mar’s fall meeting, trainer Mark Casse informed Thursday.
Got Stormy is one of the leading candidates for the female turf championship. She has traded two head-to-head decisions in Grade 1 races with Uni, the Breeders’ Cup Mile winner. Got Stormy beat Uni in the Fourstardave at Saratoga. Uni has two Grade 1 wins this year, her other coming in the First Lady at Keeneland. Got Stormy would be seeking her second Grade 1 win of the year in the Matriarch.
The Matriarch, at one mile on turf, would mark a return to a race restricted to fillies and mares for Got Stormy, who has made her last three starts in races against open company. In between the Fourstardave and Breeders’ Cup Mile, she was second in the Woodbine Mile.
Casse said Got Stormy would be sent to California on Nov. 24, one week prior to the Matriarch.
Got Stormy is one of six horses Casse has nominated to the closing-week turf festival. He also has Osage Moon and Uncle Bull, both recent allowance winners at Woodbine, for the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 30, and Curlin’s Honor, winner of the Artie Schiller Stakes last Saturday at Aqueduct, for the Grade 2, $200,000 Seabiscuit for older horses, also Nov. 30.
David Jerkens, racing secretary at Del Mar, on Thursday morning said he has been encouraged by the pace of nominations so far from Easternbased trainers like Casse. Brad Cox has nominated several runners, including Joe Hirsch Turf Classic winner Arklow, who is intended for the Grade 2, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 29, and Mike Maker has already nominated four horses, including Henley’s Joy, the Belmont Derby winner, who is slated for the Hollywood Derby.
More nominations should be known over the weekend, as the final day to nominate for all the turf festival stakes is Saturday.
Mundaye Call in local debut
Mundaye Call, who made her first two starts at Saratoga, makes her first start on the West Coast on Saturday when she heads a field of 2-year-old fillies in race 6 at Del Mar, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race.
Mundaye Call, a daughter of Into Mischief who was a $950,000 yearling buy by the OXO Equine of Larry Best, finished second against maidens at Saratoga in her debut, then was wheeled back in the Grade 1 Spinaway and finished last of seven.
“We didn’t think the Spinaway was coming up that strong and thought she’d have a chance if she moved forward, but in hindsight we probably should have been conservative,” Don Chatlos, her trainer, said Thursday morning. “We took a shot. After that, we freshened her up and got her back on track.
“She had a nice work the other day,” Chatlos said, referring to a five-furlong move in 1:00 on Saturday. “Only Instagrand was faster.”
The race also includes firsttime starters trained by Jerry Hollendorfer and Richard Mandella, and second-time starters trained by Mandella and Bob Baffert.
“It’s no different than New York. They don’t give anything away,” Chatlos said. “Papa Mandella has a couple, Jerry, Baffert.”
Mandella’s first-time starter is the Street Sense filly Night On the Town, a $425,000 yearling buy. His other entrant, Parkour, was second in her debut last month at Santa Anita.
Mandella said Night On the Town “probably eventually will be better going longer, but the way she trains she should run well.”
Parkour “ran well first time and should run well again,” Mandella said.
Abusive Gary back from layoff
When Abusive Gary returns from a nine-month layoff in race 9 on Saturday at Del Mar, he will be racing on turf for the first time, going two turns for the first time, and making his first start since being gelded.
Abusive Gary, by Boisterous out of a Wolf Power mare, sprinted twice at Santa Anita in January before going to the sidelines. Race 9 on Saturday is a one-mile grass race for older California-bred maidens.
“He showed a lot of talent early on,” his trainer, Phil D’Amato, said Thursday morning at Del Mar. “First time, he was really green. Second time out he moved forward.
“He’s bred top and bottom for grass, so we thought this was a good time as any to try him on the grass.”
D’Amato has runners in four races on Saturday, including King Abner, who goes for his third win in four lifetime starts at Del Mar in race 2, a one-mile optional claimer going a mile on dirt.
“He’s won going long on this track,” D’Amato said, referring to a front-running victory at the fall meeting last year on Nov. 15. “He’s doing good, but it looks like there’s a lot of speed in that race.”