San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FIRST RACING FATALITY OCCURS
The first racing fatality at Del Mar’s summer meeting since 2018 occurred Saturday when the 3-year-old filly Mean Sophia was euthanized after sustaining a fractured leg when she stumbled coming out of the gate in the seventh race.
Track veterinarians determined the filly, trained by Peter Miller, could not be saved.
Mean Sophia was making her eighth career start. She won her debut in April 19 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., but was winless since. Purchased for $90,000 as a 2-year-old by the Sinnott Family Trust, her career earnings were $55,773.
Jockey Ricardo Gonzalez twisted his ankle when he jumped off the filly and was replaced on his remaining mounts Saturday. He is scheduled to ride today.
Del Mar had two fatalities in training incidents earlier in the meeting, the filly Lucky Lilia on July 11 and the 4-year-old gelding Irreproachable on Aug. 24. Both were euthanized after suffering unspecified injuries during morning workouts.
Del Mar did not have a fatality during a race in the 2019 summer season. There were four deaths in training, two of those coming in a freak collision. There were two racing deaths in the fall meeting last year.
In both 2018 and 2019, Del Mar was named the safest major racetrack in the country by The Jockey Club Equine Injury Database, which is based only on racing deaths, not those that occur in training.
Prat ties stakes record
Flavien Prat rode four winners Saturday — including Raymundos Secret in the Grade II John C. Mabee Stakes — to tie Rafael Bejarano’s record of 13 stakes wins in a summer meeting and move past Umberto Rispoli in the jockey race entering the final two days.
Two of Prat’s wins were by narrow margins over Rispoli, who was blanked.
Raymundos Secret led wire-to-wire in the $150,000 Mabee Stakes — finishing a neck in front of Rispoli’s fast-closing Lady Prancelot
at the finish of the 11⁄8-mile, $150,000 turf race for older fillies and mares.
Prat’s earlier wins came in the first (Queengol), sixth (Jamming Eddy) and seventh (Stormin Ranger). In the seventh, Prat finished a half-length ahead of Rispoli on Run Like Kona.
The four-win afternoon left Prat with 46-45 edge.
“The riding title means a lot to me,” said Prat, who is the defending summer meeting champion and winner of two of the last three summer titles. “But there are a lot of races to go and Umberto is an excellent rider.”
As for tying the record for stakes wins set by Bejarano in 2012, Prat said: “It’s a big accomplishment to share the record. I’m glad for it. To own the record would be great. I’ve got one or two more before we’re done here.”
Starting from the far outside post in the turf chute for the Mabee, Prat immediately shot the favored Raymundos Secret ($4.80) into the lead, angled sharply to the rail and was never headed.
“The plan wasn’t necessarily to go to the front ... just to break her out of there and see what happens,” said Prat.
“She broke super sharp. From there, I just tried to get her to relax and slow it down as best I could.
“Then, when we went for home, she gave me a good kick. She just had enough at the end.”
Lady Prancelot was last in the field of six at the threequarters pole and closed quickly down the stretch, falling just short of catching the leader.
There are three more stakes races on today’s card — paced by the Grade I Del Mar Debutante for 2-yearold fillies and the Grade II Del Mar Derby.
Sorrento Stakes winner My Girl Red and the Bob Baffert-trained duo of Princess Noor and Illumination head the field for the 7-furlong Debutante — the fifth of six Grade I stakes races of the summer meeting.
Princess Noor, an impressive 21⁄2-length winner in her Aug. 22 debut, is the morning-line 8-5 favorite in the $250,000, 7-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies. She was purchased by the Zedan Racing Stables at the Keeneland sales for $1.3 million and will have Victor Espinoza up.
But the Keith Desoemeaux-trained My Girl Red has a more impressive results résumé with two wins in as many starts, topped by the Grade II Sorrento on Aug. 7. Prat will ride My Girl Red, who is a 3-1 morningline pick.
The Del Mar Derby is for 3-year-olds at 11⁄8-miles on the turf.
Notable
Mario Gutierrez was back on his six mounts Saturday after being thrown from Queen Stormborn in Friday’s ninth and final race.