Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Select group for Los Al Derby
CYPRESS, Calif. – The candidates for the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday are led by 2018 stakes winners Ax Man and Blended Citizen. They will not have many rivals in the $150,000 race at 1 1/8 miles.
From a list of 11 nominations, there were only a few other runners confirmed for the race as of Sunday. Trainer Doug O’Neill said he will start Blended Citizen and King Cause. Blended Citizen won the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes on May 12 at Belmont Park and was ninth in the Belmont Stakes on June 9. King Cause was fifth behind Draft Pick in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes on June 10 at Santa Anita.
Trainer Peter Eurton said he was considering Draft Pick for the Los Alamitos Derby, but said the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on Saturday at Indiana Grand is a strong possibility for him. The Indiana Derby has a purse of $500,000 and is run at 1 1/16 miles. Eurton has Dark Vader as a candidate for the Indiana Derby. Dark Vader, who is nominated to the Los Alamitos Derby, was third in the Easy Goer Stakes on June 9 at Belmont Park.
Ax Man won the Sir Barton Stakes on May 19 at Pimlico, but was a well-beaten third in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes on June 16 at Churchill Downs at 1-2 for trainer Bob Baffert.
Mongolian Groom, a June 15 maiden winner on turf at Santa Anita, is nominated for the Los Alamitos Derby, which would be his stakes debut. He is owned and trained by Enebish Ganbat.
Martin plans Del Mar string
John Martin, a leading trainer in Northern California, will have about a dozen horses at Del Mar this summer, his largest stable there.
Martin, who won training titles at two meetings at Golden Gate Fields last year, said Sunday that he was finalizing the runners who will be sent to Del Mar and expects to send 12 to 14 horses total. The summer season begins July 18 at Del Mar.
“It’s a meeting I need to be at, and I need to make it work,” Martin said. “I have some nice horses, but I need to place them strategically.”
Martin, 59, has had runners at Del Mar each summer annually since 2013. In 2017, he had one win from six runners.
Martin said the roster of horses he will have at the start of the meeting could be significantly different than the composition of his stable on closing day, Sept. 3.
“I need to claim some when I get there,” he said. “There are some big shakes and a person needs to get lucky to replace the ones we’ll lose.
“It’s a slow process of growing. I’m based in Northern California. It gives me a chance to have better horses overall and to have my presence there.”
Martin said that Mended, second in the Iowa Distaff on July 5 at Prairie Meadows, will be part of the stable. She is a candidate for the $75,000 Tranquility Lake Stakes for fillies and mares Aug. 24. Last July at Del Mar, Mended won an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option that was her seventh victory in a 10-race winning streak.
Earlier this year, Mended was second in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational at Santa Anita.
Impressive Owning to Best Pal
The 2-year-old colt Owning won his debut in a maiden special weight race Sunday in a style that left owners Paul and Zillah Reddam and trainer Simon Callaghan planning for graded stakes at Del Mar next month.
Ridden by Mario Gutierrez, Owning ($8.60) was always near the front and pulled away in the final furlong to win the 5 1/2-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths over Tariq. Owning was timed in 1:04.20.
“We couldn’t ask for much more,” Callaghan said. “He broke sharp and placed himself nicely and drew off.”
Owning’s next race is likely to be the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 11. The $200,000 Best Pal Stakes is a key prep for the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs on Sept. 3.
“The timing fits perfectly,” Paul Reddam said.
Owning was purchased for $260,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale of 2-year-olds in training in April. Owning is the first winner by the Tapit stallion Flashback, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky.