Untamed Domain due for win

Untamed Domain is winless in 10 starts since he finished a hard-charging second to Mendelssohn in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in November 2017 at Del Mar.

Over the next two years, Untamed Domain has raced at nine tracks on the East Coast and in the Midwest, with his best results two second-place finishes in stakes in 2018.

Unraced since September, Untamed Domain has switched coasts this year. Previously trained by Graham Motion, Untamed Domain will start for the first time for trainer John Sadler in an optional claimer at a mile on turf Monday at Del Mar.

The Monday program was a recent addition to the Del Mar summer meeting after the track lost three days of racing from July 17-19 because of a coronavirus outbreak in the jockeys’ room.

Untamed Domain, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, is part of a projected field of seven. A 5-year-old gelding by Animal Kingdom, Untamed Domain had his first workout for Sadler at Santa Anita in late May and had two turf workouts at Del Mar earlier this month.

“He’s been good, especially since I’ve been able to work him on turf,” Sadler said Friday.

Untamed Domain won the Grade 2 Summer Stakes at Woodbine in 2017. Monday’s field is expected to have three other stakes winners – Fight On, King of Speed, and Order and Law.

Three other expected runners also have strong credentials.

Mesut was second in the Siren Lure Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf on June 21 at Santa Anita in his first start after a 13-month layoff. This also will be the second start of 2020 for Maestro Dearte, who closed with interest at 35-1 to be second to Hit the Road in a second-level allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option at a mile on turf May 22 at Santa Anita. Hit the Road won the Runhappy Oceanside Stakes on July 10 at Del Mar.

Gregorian Chant, a troubled seventh in the May 22 race, was fifth in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on turf at Del Mar last August.

Major preps for major stakes

There are five stakes at Del Mar from next Friday through Sunday, including races with ramifications for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5 and the Breeders’ Cup Saturday program at Keeneland on Nov. 7.

For the first time, Del Mar is hosting a Kentucky Derby prep, the $100,000 Shared Belief

Stakes at 1 1/16 miles next Saturday. The race is typically run in late August, but was moved forward to the start of the month this year after the Kentucky Derby was postponed from its traditional spot in early May because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Honor A. P., winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on June 6, heads the probable starters for the Shared Belief.

Next Saturday’s program includes the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes for sprinters. The winner of the $250,000 Crosby receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Sprint on Nov. 7.

Next Sunday’s program is led by the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes, a $250,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Distaff on Nov. 7.