Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
DEL MAR Steal the diamonds eyes theft
Del Mar racetrack and frontrunner Stealthediamonds both intend to start fast Friday, when the racing season resumes with an extended program that includes two stakes and one of the circuit’s quickest horses.
The 11-race card is the first in nearly two weeks; racing was canceled last weekend following a rash of COVID-19 positives among jockeys. Del Mar hopes for a speedy relaunch to the summer meet Friday, and the right horse will set the tone.
Stealthediamonds is pure gas, and favored in the $65,000 Daisycutter Handicap for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf. Trainer Mike Puype calls her “one of the fastest horses for a half-mile I’ve ever trained, and definitely one of the fastest gate horses I’ve had.”
“She’s wicked fast,” he said. Stealthediamonds seeks her second stakes win facing four other stakes winners in the nine-runner Daisycutter. Tomlin is fresh from a dazzling stakes win at Golden Gate Fields; Jo Jo Air arrives from Kentucky in solid form; Artistic Diva adds speed; longshot Mucho Amor is rounding into form. The Daisycutter is race 9 on Friday.
Race 4 is the $125,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for Californiabred 3-year-old fillies, a sevenfurlong dirt sprint with stakes winner Smiling Shirlee, potential pacesetter Big Sweep, and Been Studying Her among the five entered. Warren’s Showtime, a four-time stakes winner, has two options – sprint in the Fleet Treat on Friday, or run long on turf in the Grade 2 San Clemente on Saturday.
“As tough as this filly is, I might run both days,” cracked Warren’s Showtime’s trainer, Craig Lewis. Lewis planned to wait until Thursday to decide whether to run her seven furlongs Friday in the Fleet Treat or a day later in the San Clemente. Warren’s Showtime is 5 for 7 in routes, and 0 for 3 in sprints.
With only five entrants, the Fleet Treat offers minimal wagering appeal. Bettors might settle on Jeff Bonde-trained Smiling Shirlee, who has reached peak form. She won her career debut as a 2-year-old at Del Mar last summer, lost her next five starts, but since has won two of her last three. Smiling Shirlee has grown up.
“She just kind of filled out and is a lot more professional,” Bonde said. “When she was a 2-year-old, she was a little on the light side. She’s kind of filled into herself.”
Smiling Shirlee won a California-bred allowance route in March, followed by the Evening Jewel Stakes, a dirt sprint for California-bred 3-yearold fillies. Last time out, she finished second in the two-turn Melair Stakes won by Warren’s Showtime. Smiling Shirlee is owned by Edward Brown, Alan Klein, and Phil Lebherz.
The challenge for laterunners Smiling Shirlee and Warren’s Showtime in the Fleet Treat is a tepid pace scenario. Meanwhile, stakes winner Big Sweep is quick enough to make the lead or press the pace outside Loud Loud Music.
The Daisycutter purse is half the purse of the Fleet Treat, but nine entrants make the Daisycutter more attractive for bettors. With the rails down, the course should be fair. The past three summers, 16 turf sprints were run with the rails down: four winners led gate to wire, two won from second or third, and 10 won rallying from fourth or farther back.
Stealthediamonds, 2 for 2 in Del Mar turf sprints, drops in class and shortens to five furlongs following the best race of her career – a third in the Grade 2 Monrovia at 5 1/2 furlongs. The winner, Jolie Olimpica, returned to finish second in a Grade 1; runner-up Oleksandra returned to win a Grade 1.
“Five and a half is a little too far for my filly,” Puype said. “I think she runs with anyone in the country at five-eighths of a mile.”
Stealthediamonds, claimed for $80,000 last fall, is 2 for 4 for owners James and Ywachetta Driver and 6 of 19 overall. Stealthediamonds is capable of 21-and-change speed. She set the pace in her last five starts.
Tomlin provides the main challenge, based on a smashing win in the five-furlong Camilla Urso on the turf at Golden Gate. Trainer Steve Specht admitted to uncertainty when he returned her to turf, because her only previous start on the surface was a debacle. That was on a course with give, and she lost by more than eight lengths. Last out on a fast course at Golden Gate, Tomlin ran wild.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but it was firm turf and she got out of there like a turpentine cat,” Specht said. “I’m looking at the fractions and thinking she’s going to cave in after 20 and change. But she kept going.”
Tomlin sped the opening quarter-mile in 20.72 seconds, the half in 44.24, opened up, and won clear. She obviously has speed, but could be positioned behind Stealthediamonds on Friday. If she runs two alike, Tomlin could spring an upset. She arrived at Del Mar two weeks ago and has been under the care of trainer Quinn Howey.
Jo Jo Air ships in for trainer Wesley Ward, who won the 2015 Daisycutter with shipper Shrinking Violet. Jo Jo Air was compromised by the race shape last out; she finished fourth after pressing the pace in a race that saw the 1-2-3 finishers rally from behind.
Surrender Now is 2 for 2 at Del Mar and has more speed than she showed last out. Lighthouse also adds speed to the race. Mischiffie won setting the pace last out but is likely to rally from behind on Friday, along with closer Storming Lady.