Jockey, trainer races at Del Mar should come down to the wire

by SCOTT SHAPIRO

With just one week to go at the Del Mar 2016 summer meeting both the jockey and trainer titles are still up for grabs. Both will likely come down to next week's six-day racing schedule that concludes on Labor Day.
 
Flavian Prat has a seven-win lead after hitting the wire first four times on Saturday and finding the winner's circle twice on Sunday. Prat is attempting to become the first rider to top Rafael Bejarano in the jockey standings since Joel Rosario in 2011. He heads into the final week with 35 wins. Bejarano heads into closing week with 28 wins and will need a huge final week to catch Prat.
 
Santiago Gonzalez has been working hard this summer. He leads all jockeys with 186 mounts and is in third with 27 wins. Tyler Baze and Kent Desormeaux round out the top five with 20 and 19, respectively.
 
Victor Espinoza only has 14 wins, but has won at the highest percentage of any rider at the Del Mar summer meeting. His 24 percent leads Bejarano and Prat who have hit at a 20 percent clip.
 
Trainer Phil D'Amato leads the trainer standings with one week to go. His 19 victories is three more than Richard Baltas, who has 16, and four more than Peter Miller and Bob Baffert who have 15. However, Baffert has done more with less. He has won at 26 percent, while D'Amato has only hit on 22 percent of his winners.
 
It should be a tight race to the wire as the top four are certain to be loaded for bear in the meet's final six days.