Horse racing notes: Del Mar hopes to build on momentum from 2022

DEL MAR LEADERS

Final 2022 standings

JOCKEYS / WINS

Juan Hernandez / 49

Umberto Rispoli / 27

Ramon Vazquez / 24

Mike Smith / 20

Hector Berrios / 18

TRAINERS / WINS

Bob Baffert / 19

Philip D’Amato / 19

Peter Miller / 17

Doug O’Neill / 17

Two tied / 14

WEEKEND STAKES (DEL MAR)

Friday

• $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile (turf)

Saturday

• $200,000 Grade II San Clemente Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile (turf)

• $100,000 Osunitas Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile (turf)

Sunday

• $125,000 Grade III Cougar Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 1½ miles

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens was understandably proud of last summer’s field sizes, which averaged 9.14 horses per race. But he’s also keen on the track’s stakes program. “I thought our stakes races were really strong in terms of field size and quality,” he said. “That’s something we’re hoping to emulate. You look around the country no matter where it is, and sometimes California gets a bad rap, but I see four- or five-horse stakes races all over the country. If we could continue to have success with our stakes races, that would be great.”

• A full field of 14 is scheduled to enter the starting gate for Friday’s $100,000 Oceanside Stakes, Del Mar’s traditional opening day feature for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf. Philip D’Amato, who shared the trainers’ title with Bob Baffert last summer (19 victories), will try to win the race for a second consecutive year after Balnikhov’s triumph in 2022. Classical Cat, who broke his maiden last summer at Del Mar and won the Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 30, and Conclude, a gate-to-wire winner of the Desert Code Stakes down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course on May 21, will represent the D’Amato barn.

• The $1 million Grade I Haskell Stakes from Monmouth Park on Saturday drew a field of eight, headlined by Kentucky Derby winner Mage. The Baffert-trained Arabian Knight, who has raced only once this year, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and will be ridden by John Velazquez. The Uncle Mo colt won the Grade III Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park by 5½ lengths on Jan. 28 and then was freshened for the summer 3-year-old races. A victory by Arabian Knight would give Baffert a record-extending 10th victory in the race. The winner of the Haskell earns an all-expenses paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

— Art Wilson