Finest City to train up to Cup

DEL MAR, Calif. – Finest City, the champion female sprinter of 2016, will make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 4 and will not start in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 13.

“She’ll get her break,” trainer Ian Kruljac said.

Finest City, who won the 2016 BC Filly and Mare Sprint, finished third in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 8 and returned to racetrack training with a jog Friday morning at Del Mar, Kruljac said.

“She was excited to go back,” Kruljac said.

Kruljac said he plans to give Finest City a few workouts at Del Mar before the stable returns to Santa Anita in early September. The workout schedule will intensify in advance of the Breeders’ Cup race at Del Mar.

The $100,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap is led by Skye Diamonds, who won the Great Lady M. Stakes, and Bendable, who won the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita on June 18.

Gas Station Sushi debuts

Gas Station Sushi definitely has a funny name – and apparently loads of ability.

Expectations are high for Gas Station Sushi’s debut in a maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Sunday. Bought for $240,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction of 2-year-olds in training in March, Gas Station Sushi has worked well in recent weeks, trainer Richard Baltas said.

“I don’t know if she’s 100 percent ready to go 6 1/2 [furlongs], but I don’t think a lot of them are,” Baltas said.

“She’s done everything pretty easily. We haven’t had to ask her in her works. She’s beaten the workmate, but I don’t let them draw away from the other horses.”

Gas Station Sushi, by Into Mischief, is owned by Jason Tackitt and his family, who race as Jaam Racing. Tackitt and Baltas hope a winning race on Sunday will result in a start in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Sept. 2.

Gas Station Sushi is one of six first-time starters in a field of 10 fillies in Sunday’s third race.

Time to Play, by Medaglia d’Oro, is another first-time starter. Trained by Eoin Harty for Godolphin Racing, Time to Play is out of Game Face, the winner of the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap at Calder in 2009.

Gormley eyes Shared Belief

Gormley, the winner of the $1 million Santa Anita Derby in April, is tentatively scheduled to have his first start of the summer in the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 26, trainer John Shirreffs said on Friday.

The Shared Belief Stakes is run at one mile and is the only open stakes for 3-year-olds on dirt at the Del Mar summer meeting. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Gormley ran in two legs of the Triple Crown, finishing ninth in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 and fourth in the Belmont Stakes on June 10 in his most recent start.

Gormley has won 4 of 8 starts and earned $1,020,000. By Malibu Moon, Gormley won his career debut at the 2016 Del Mar summer meeting.

Tiered purses introduced

Del Mar has enacted a twotiered purse structure for California-bred optional-claiming races at its summer meeting, with allowance-class horses running for much greater prize money than claimers.

The new format will be used for Sunday’s first race, an optional claimer at one mile that drew a field of five. Que Chistoso, Senator Robert, and Plain Wrap are entered under the allowance race conditions and will run for a purse of $62,000. Old Man Lake and Freddies Dream are entered for $20,000 claiming prices and will run for a $35,000 purse.

The race is a first-condition optional claimer for horses who have not won a first-place purse of $10,000 other than maiden, claiming or starter, or have never won two races, or are eligible to be claimed for $20,000.

Freddies Dream won a similar race at Santa Anita on July 1 when eligible to be claimed for $16,000. Rockingham Ranch, which owns the 6-year-old gelding, earned $33,600 of the $57,035 purse that day.

On Sunday, Freddies Dream would earn $21,000 from a $35,000 purse with a win. The horses entered under the allowance race conditions would earn $37,200 from a $62,000 purse with a win.

Del Mar vice president of racing Tom Robbins said the new structure was designed “in an effort to control our purses.”

The track has overpaid purses in recent years, leading to a purse reduction last summer. The track is still carrying a deficit but is expected to offer uniform purses through the summer meeting, which ends on Sept. 4, Robbins said.

Robbins said he has received “a little bit” of criticism for the two-tiered purse structure.

“We have to balance our purses and make sure we’re not overpaying,” he said.

Robbins was quick to mention two other incentives for California-breds – a $17,500 bonus paid to owners of horses who win maiden special weight races, and the $60,000 purse level for maiden special weight races for California-breds this summer, equal to similar races for opencompany runners.