Del Mar Week 2 Highlights

Del Mar witnessed upsets last week, and this weekend the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge series runs through the seaside track. Here’s a roundup of what is happening in West Coast racing.  

UNITED DEFENDS TITLE IN EDDIE READ S. (G2)

United got up by a neck over even-money favorite Smooth Like Strait to earn a repeat score in the Eddie Read S. (G2). The six-year-old gelding earned his sixth graded stakes win for trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Flavien Prat. He bounced back after an uncharacteristically poor performance in the Charles Whittingham S. (G2).

“I knew his last race wasn’t his real race and I felt he’d run better today,” Prat said. “He did and ran well through the lane. He’s back.”

Mandella said the chestnut is pointed towards the Del Mar H. (G2).

MADONE TURNS TABLES IN THE SAN CLEMENTE S. (G2)

Madone turned the tables on Going Global, who went off at 2-5, in the San Clemente S. (G2). After finishing a distance sixth to the favorite in the Honeymoon S. (G3), the dark bay came from ninth to edge her out by a half-length and put an end to her five-win streak.

Madone improved her record to 5-0-0 record from seven career starts, with three of those wins at Del Mar. Her other loss came in an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

Trainer Simon Callaghan indicated his filly will target the Del Mar Oaks (G1).

UPCOMING DEL MAR STAKES

Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” action comes to Del Mar this weekend with Saturday’s Bing Crosby S. (G1), a qualifier for the Sprint (G1), and Sunday’s Clement L. Hirsch S. (G1), granting an automatic berth in the Distaff (G1).

BING CROSBY S. (G1)

C Z Rocket will attempt to return to his winning ways in the Bing Crosby S. (G1). In his last start, the seven-year-old bay gelding was upset by Mo Mosa in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) at Lone Star Park, giving him seven wins and two seconds in his previous nine starts.

His other second-place finish in this streak came in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, a race that ignited a rivalry with winner Whitmore, who earned the Eclipse Award for champion male sprinter. In 2021, C Z Rocket edged Whitmore in both the Hot Springs S. and Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3) at Oaklawn Park.

Jockey Florent Geroux will be in the irons for a fourth consecutive start.

C Z Rocket faces Dr. Schivel, who has three consecutive wins, including the Del Mar Futurity (G1); and Brickyard Ride, winner of the San Carlos S. (G2).

CLEMENT L. HIRSCH S. (G1)

Shedaresthedevil, winner of the 2020 Kentucky Oaks and 2021 La Troienne S. (G1), travels west to face a talented field in the Clement L. Hirsch S. (G1) that includes multiple graded stakes winners Venetian Harbor, As Time Goes By, and Warren’s Showtime.

Brad Cox, the Eclipse Award-winning trainer of 2020, trains Shedaresthedevil, and regular rider Florent Geroux will be in the irons.