ARKLOW, ROSARIO PROVE BEST
DEL MAR
The eve of one of the more anticipated days this year at Del Mar belonged to 6-yearold import Arklow, jockey Joel Rosario and trainer Richard Baltas.
Rosario rode favored Arklow, the son of Arch, to victory in the Grade II, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup for the jockey’s second win Friday.
And Baltas saddled three winners — all in the first four races — to pass Peter Miller for the lead in the trainer standings with two days remaining in the fall season.
Horses f lown in from the East are now 2-for-2 after two days of Del Mar’s turf stakes weekend heading into today’s program of three graded stakes capped by the Grade I Hollywood Derby.
Arklow, who finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in his most recent start, stalked the leaders early before taking the lead at midstretch and holding off Laccario for a half-leng th victory. Say the Word was third in the 11⁄ 2- mile marathon for older horses.
The race’s three favored horses finished 1-2-3, with Arkow returning $5.80 as the 9-5 choice.
Blake Cox, the son and assistant to trainer Brad Cox, said Arklow’s winning run played out to the prerace plan.
“Joel was able to get a real good stalking position and finish strong,” said Blake. “It kind of worked out the way we drew it up.”
“He broke well and got a good spot,” said Rosario, a three-time Del Mar riding champ before moving East. “I stepped on the brakes a little bit because I was comfortable with where we were.
“I saved ground with him then move up a little bit outside. He was running good. When we turned for home, I knew he was a fighter and I knew he was going to be tough to beat. He finished strong.”
The win was Arklow’s eighth in 31 career starts.
Baltas’ three wins came with Yeng Again (Abel
Cedillo, $6) in the f irst, Gallovie (Irad Ortiz Jr., $7.40) in the third and Lady On Ice (Manuel Franco, $4.40) in the fourth and gave him 10 wins on the meeting — one more than Miller.
Big day today
In addition to the $300,000 Hollywood Derby, today’s nine-race card will include the Grade II Seabiscuit Handicap and the Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes.
The full, 13-horse fields entered in all three stakes races have been bolstered by 15 horses and three leading jockeys f lown in from Eastern tracks for closing weekend. The track is also hosting the annual Del Mar Fall Challenge handicapping tournament today, which has maxed out at 100 entries from across the nation.
A look at the three stakes races:
Hollywood Derby (11⁄
8 miles, 3-year-olds, ninth race): Five imported horses led by 3-1 morning-line favorite Decorated Invader (Rosario), who has won 5of-9 starts and was second to fellow derby entrant Get Smokin (Mike Smith) in a Grade II stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 18. Smooth Like Strait (7-2, Umberto Rispoli) will seek a third straight West Coast graded stakes win while Gufo (4-1, Flavien Prat) and Domestic Spending (5-1, Ortiz) are coming off wins in New York.
Seabiscuit Handicap (11⁄ miles, older horses,
16 seventh race): Trainer Chad Brown, who has Domestic Spending in the Hollywood Derby, will saddle the favorite in each of the support stakes with Ortiz aboard. That would be topweighted Flavius (5-2) in the Seabiscuit. Second favorite is Anothertwistafate (4-1, Rosario) followed by Bowies Hero (6-1, Rispoli).
Jimmy Durante Stakes (1 mile, 2-year-olds, fifth race): Brown’s Fluffy Socks (5-2, Ortiz) has two wins and a second in four career starts and is the early choice in the field that includes four imports.
San Jose State (4-0, 4-0 MW) at Boise State (4-1, 4-0), 1 p.m., Ch. 5/69:
Anyone who claims they had this as one of the showdown games of the season in the Mountain West probably isn’t telling the truth. It’s no surprise to see the Broncos at 4-0, but for the Spartans to have the same league record? And playing on national network TV? This will be San Jose State’s largest test by far, however. The Spartans haven’t seen an offense with close to the firepower Boise can bring, especially with QB Hank Bachmeier returning last week. San Jose’s quarterbacks will test Boise’s defense with Nick Starkel’s passing and Nick Nash’s running.
Arizona (0-2, 0-2 Pac 12) at UCLA (1-2, 1-2), 5 p.m., Ch. 5/69:
Not a lot to choose from in the evening window. Arizona and UCLA are in their third seasons of the Kevin Sumlin and Chip Kelly eras, but the two programs seemingly are trending in opposite directions. The Wildcats (0-2) haven’t won in more than a year and have dropped a programrecord nine consecutive games. Meanwhile, the Bruins (1-2) are finally showing signs of progress under Kelly by being competitive in all three games, including a 38-35 loss last week at Oregon. For UCLA, redshirt freshman Chase Griffin will likely be the starting QB for the second straight game; junior Dorian Thompson-Robinson is one of at least nine players who could miss the game due to COVID-19 contact tracing.