Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Kanderel’s luck is turning just in time for La Jolla
Wide trips and trouble at the start of his races plagued Kanderel last fall and winter. The 3-year-old colt is having much better journeys in his races this summer.
After winning the Alcatraz Stakes at a mile on turf on June 13 at Golden Gate Fields, Kanderel closed from 10th of 12 to finish a game second in the Oceanside Stakes on June 10 at Del Mar.
Those races have led to Kanderel’s 2020 graded stakes debut in Sunday’s Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf for 3-year-olds at Del Mar.
“The last couple of races have gone very well,” trainer Richard Mandella said Friday.
Owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Kanderel won his debut in a maiden special weight race at a mile on turf at Santa Anita last September. The Alcatraz was Kanderel’s first stakes win in his third start of 2020.
“He had a terrific race the first time out, and he had nothing but bad luck after that,” Mandella said. “Things didn’t go well in his races.”
The $125,000 La Jolla Handicap drew a competitive field of eight that includes Storm the Court, the champion 3-year-old male of 2019, and the multiple stakes winner Smooth Like Strait.
The 1 1/16 miles of the La Jolla Handicap will a new distance for Kanderel, a winner of 2 of 7 starts. A successful race Sunday could lead to a start in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf Sept. 6.
“I think it should help,” Mandella said of the distance.
In coming weeks, Mandella plans to start Royal Ship, a Group 1 winner in Brazil in February who recently joined his stable. Royal Ship, a 4-yearold colt by Midshipman, has won 5 of 7 starts.
Friday, Royal Ship worked seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar in 1:24.40. Mandella timed Royal Ship galloping out a mile in 1:39.
“I’ve had him a couple of months,” Mandella said. “He looks pretty good at what we’ve asked of him.”
Donna Veloce on track for Oaks
Donna Veloce, a stakes winner in March in her only start this year and the runnerup in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last November, worked five furlongs in 1:00 on Friday at Del Mar for a scheduled start in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Sept. 4.
“She’s making some really good progress from week to week,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “We definitely asked her for little bit more this morning. She looked good doing it.”
Callaghan maintains that there is sufficient time to have Donna Veloce ready for the Kentucky Oaks, even though she has not raced since an easy win in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes on March 8 at Santa Anita. Donna Veloce was briefly out of training in the spring because of an undisclosed ailment.
“The next three works have to go perfectly for us to consider going straight for the Oaks,” Callaghan said.
In other works Friday, Giant Expectations worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 for an expected start in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 29, a race in which he was second last year. Trainer Peter Eurton timed Giant Expectations in 59 seconds for five furlongs.
The 7-year-old Giant Expectations has not raced this year. Giant Expectations was last of 10 in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita last November in his most recent start.
Santa Anita sets autumn dates
Santa Anita will run a sixweek autumn meeting from Sept. 19 to Oct. 25 that will include 18 days of racing and important prep races on the first two weekends for the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland.
Santa Anita was awarded autumn racing dates for a season that could have started as early as Sept. 11, but track officials have opted for a brief gap following closing day of the Del Mar summer meeting on Sept. 7.
The Santa Anita autumn meeting will include a race named in honor of the late California racing executive Sherwood Chillingworth, who led the Oak Tree Racing Association, which operated the autumn meeting at Santa Anita from 1969 to 2009.
Chillingworth, a horse owner who had a background in real estate development, died last October.
The Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs will be run Sept. 19 and was previously known as the L.A. Woman Stakes.
On Sept. 26, Santa Anita will run three Grade 1 races, each worth $300,000 – the American Pharoah, Awesome Again, and Rodeo Drive stakes – and the Grade 2, $200,000 Chandelier Stakes. The Sept. 27 program includes two Grade 2 races worth $200,000 – the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and the Zenyatta Stakes.
All are preps for Breeders’ Cup races. There will be 24 stakes at the autumn meeting.