DEL MAR — For the second straight Saturday, Del Mar is hosting a Grade I stakes race that earns the winner a guaranteed berth in the Breeders’ Cup.
And for the second straight weekend, several top horses are shipping west for a share of the $400,000 purse, this time in Clement L. Hirsch for fillies and mares, and a possible bigger reward in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff in the 1 1/16-mile test on the main track for older fillies and mares.
Trainer Brad Cox, who has had great success over the years in the Turf Festival at the end of the fall meeting, has flown in Chasten, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief. Chasten is coming off a 6 1/4-length win in the $150,000 Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park on June 13. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is shipping in Eunomia from Florida.
The horse to beat is defending Hirsch champion Seismic Beauty. The 5-year-old, Bob Baffert-trained daughter of Uncle Mo has four wins in nine career starts and will again have Juan Hernandez aboard.
The race also features Om N Joy (Kent Desormeaux), who won the May 30 Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita with Hirsch rivals Simply Joking and Seismic Beauty running second and third, respectively.
Knockout
Jockey Joel Rosario and He’s A Knockout won a stretch-long, side-by-side battle with longshot Party Animal to win Friday’s Real Good Deal Stakes for 3-year-old Cal-breds.
He’s a Knockout ($14.40) scored a wire-to-wire win in the seven-furlong race on the main track. But jockey Jose Morelos pulled 25-1 Party Animal alongside the leader at the half-mile pole, and the pair dueled all the way to finish, where He’s a Knockout finished a head in front.
Favored Pavlovian, who finished last in the Kentucky Derby, ran sixth in the field of 11. Ocean Bear (Umberto Rispoli) was third, followed by Start the Ride (Armando Ayuso).
“Party Animal made us work a little bit in the stretch,” said Rosario, who capped a three-win day with He’s a Knockout. “We got it done. He broke well and went with it. He was relaxed and racing well.”
He’s a Knockout was racing the first time on the dirt after three earlier races on the turf.
“He’s never had dirt in his face, so I told Joel to just break and see where he wants to be. He’s a nice horse. This was all him because Rosario wasn’t going to push him today.”
More Cal-breds
The second of three weekend stakes for Cal-bred horses will go off as the fifth race Saturday. The $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes is 1 1/16th-mile run on the turf for seven older horses.
And the three morning-line favorites certainly qualify. Early favorite Old Pal is 6 years old, as is second-favorite On the Whim. And None Above the Law is 8 and will be making his 50th career start.
None Above the Law is back with trainer Peter Miller, who first started working with the horse in 2020.
“He’s such a cool horse,” said Miller. “I just love him.”
None Above the Law won the Grade II Del Mar Derby as a 3-year-old in 2021, then won only once in the next five years. But he scored his eighth career win in his most recent start on June 13 at Santa Anita. Joe Bravo will be aboard None Above the Law.
Old Pal will carry Hernandez in the California Dreamin’. The son of Grazen finished fourth in the Grade II Seabiscuit at Del Mar last Nov. 29 in his most recent start. He won the 2023 Snow Chief and two 2025 ungraded stakes for trainer Mark Glatt.
On the Whim (Tiago Periara) won the 2024 California Dreamin’ for trainer Dean Pederson, who has won the race three of the last four years. “He’s an old horse,” said Pederson. “You just try to stay out of his way. When the bell rings, he knows what his job is.”
Notable
Hejazi, a $3.5 million purchase by Zedan Racing as a 2-year-old in 2022, ran last in a field of seven in Friday’s seventh race. The son of Bernardini was making his first start for Baffert since running second in the Grade I Bing Crosby at Del Mar more than a year ago.