Del Mar Wraps With Juvenile Stakes

The summer meet at Del Mar wrapped up last Wednesday with a pair of stakes races for two-year-olds who are looking for bigger things to come. With the Breeders’ Cup World Championships just two months away – not to mention the 2014 Kentucky Derby on the far horizon -  West coast race fans had a chance for a good preview of who might be in contention when those big events roll around. The races featured both an expected winner who made it look easy, and an outsider who scored with a big late rally.

Diamond Bachelor handles the Del Mar turf

In the one-mile Oak Tree Juvenile Turf, Diamond Bachelor went off as the 8-5 favorite and rewarded his backers by cruising to a 2 ½ length win. Breaking from the #8 post, Diamond Bachelor went quickly to the front, running 21.97 for the first quarter, before settling into a relaxed pace on the lead, getting the half in 46 seconds flat. Running mostly unchallenged throughout, all it took was a tap from jockey Julien Leparoux for Diamond Bachelor to open up by as much as 4 ½ by mid-stretch. Ontology was second, with Irish-bred Home School third.

Late run gets the Futurity for Tamarando

That one was followed by the Grade I Del Mar Futurity Stakes at seven furlongs on the polytrack. Going off at 8-1, Tamarando raced near the back of the 11-horse field for most of the first half, and was in fact sitting ninth after a half-mile, with Can The Man in front. As the field turned for home, Tamarando found room in the four-path and began his charge, moved to the center of the track and found enough to pass them all, stopping the clock in 1:23.07, with Dance With Fate also getting up late for second, and Can The Man hanging on for third.