Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Miss Sunset eyes Keeneland route to the Breeders’ Cup
Miss Sunset, the winner of Monday’s CERF Stakes at Del Mar, is bound for Kentucky and the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 6. Trainer Jeff Bonde is hopeful it will be a two-race journey and Miss Sunset will remain in Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.
The $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes is for fillies and mares at six furlongs. The winner receives a fees-paid berth for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.
In the CERF Stakes at six furlongs, Miss Sunset was confidently ridden by Mike Smith, stalking the pace before winning by 1 1/2 lengths as the 3-5 favorite.
Owned by Alan Klein and Phil Lebherz, Miss Sunset has won 10 of 18 starts and earned $879,395.
Last Sunday, the Bondetrained King of Speed won for the first time in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf, giving jockey Gary Stevens his 100th stakes win at Del Mar. Owned by Davie and John Del Secco, King of Speed will be pointed for the $100,000 Zuma Beach Stakes at a mile on turf for 2-year-olds at Santa Anita on Oct. 8 with a potential trip to the BC Juvenile Turf on Nov. 2 under consideration.
Bonde said King of Speed has needed experience to develop this year. The Del Mar Juvenile Turf was his fifth start.
“He’s a big, dumb teenager, and he finally figured it out,” Bonde said. “Gary kept saying he was a good horse.”
Summering to Surfer Girl
Summering, the undefeated winner of the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf last Sunday, is likely to have her next start in the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita in advance of a possible trip to Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Nov. 2. The Surfer Girl, at a mile on turf for 2-year-old fillies, will be run on Oct. 8.
“She came out of her race well,” owner Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm said on Thursday. “The plan is to run her in the Surfer Girl and our hope is she’ll keep doing what she’s doing.
“She’d have to run really well to think about running in the Breeders’ Cup. We want to run if we think we have a shot.”
Trained by Tom Proctor, Summering is unbeaten in two races – a five-length win in a one-mile maiden special weight on turf July 29 and a 1 1/4-length victory at odds of 3-10 in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, also at a mile. In the maiden race, Summering led throughout. She stalked the pace for the first half-mile of the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“I really liked her race,” Bernick said of the stakes win. “In her first race, she was inside and our horses don’t typically show that much speed and run that well first time out. I was worried she’d get a little speed crazy.”
Itsinthepost getting a break
Itsinthepost, the dominant older male on turf in California in the last 18 months, is on the verge of a vacation after two disappointing performances at Del Mar this summer.
Trainer Jeff Mullins said that Itsinthepost will be sent to a local farm on Saturday for a brief rest. Itsinthepost is expected to resume racing in 2019.
“We’ll see how he likes being at the farm,” Mullins said. “Sometimes, they like being at the racetrack.”
Owned by Red Baron’s Barn, Itsinthepost won seven Grade 2 stakes from March 2017 to May of this year, but was ninth in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 22 and seventh in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 18. Last November, Itsinthepost was seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar.
The 6-year-old gelding has won seven Grade 2 stakes, six at Santa Anita and one at Keeneland – the Elkhorn in 2017.