Eddie Read Stakes The Feature at Del Mar

Major stakes racing at Del Mar kicks of on Saturday, July 20, 2013 with the running of the $300,000 Grade I Eddie Read, going 1 1/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf course.  Post time is set for 5:42 PM PT, and the race has drawn a field of 10 runners, including the four-year-old colt Sofast, a French-bred making his United States racing debut. In early May, with trainer Freddie Head, the Rock of Gibraltar colt finished third in a Group II event in France.

Jeranimo and Slim Shady renew recent rivalry

The morning line favorite going to the gate will be Jeranimo at 7-2. Trained by Mike Pender, Jeranimo has been taking on the very best turf horses in the US recently, including Horse of the Year, Wise Dan, in the Grade I Woodford Reserve Classic at Churchill. Although Jeranimo finished seventh and last in that event, less than five lengths separated him and the second-place runner.   Also coming out of that race to contest the Eddie Read are Middie and Slim Shady, who was fifth in the Eddie Read in 2012.

Race draws a balanced and competitive field

Others in the field expected to contend include Lucayan, who finished second in the Grade II American Handicap behind turf star Obviously, and the Bob Baffert-trained Fed Biz, who recently ran third in the Grade I Frank Kilroe Mile and who is expected to account for the early speed in the race. The Eddie Read has been run at Del Mar since 1974, and has been a Grade I event since 1988. The 2013 winner, Acclamation, defended the title he had won in 2012, with last year’s victory capping off a string of seven straight graded-stakes wins.