Desert Gate dominates the Shared Belief, Benoit Photo
Del Mar Press
A pair of favorites performed just the way they were supposed to in two nitecap stakes at Del Mar on Del Mar Futurity Day.
Pegram, Watson and Weitman’s Desert Gate proved five and a half lengths the best in the $126,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds, then Dutch Girl Holdings or Irving Ventures’ Vanta was best on the lawn in the $102,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.
This was after favored Hughes won for fun in the Del Mar Futurity.
Desert Gate, a chestnut by Omaha Beach, was the 4/5 favorite in the Shared Belief and paid his backers $3.60 for $2. He ran the mile on the main track in 1:36.25 for rider Juan Hernandez, who was given a leg up by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Janavar Thoroughbreds’ Mo Koko finished second, two and a quarter lengths better than Harris Farm’s Start the Ride.
In the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Vanta closed with a rush to score by two and a half lengths in 1:36.30 on the lawn. She was ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Jeff Mullins and returned $4.00 for $2 for her backers on the overcast afternoon. Finishing second was WSS Racing’s Blockade, who was a length better than Amerman Racing’s Ogle.
Racing will be back at Del Mar on Labor Day Monday with a first post of 1:30 p.m. It will be the 32nd and final day of the Del Mar 2026 summer meet.
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Desert Gate, winner) – “This horse has some speed and Bob (trainer Baffert) and I thought we might be on the lead. But he said if you’re not, don’t worry about it. He can finish. Those other two horses (Mo Koko and Decisive Win) outbroke me, but I wasn’t worried. I was happy with my spot. He finished strong.”
BOB BAFFERT (Desert Gate, winner) – “This horse likes to run on the lead. They were going so fast but he was lucky to cut the corner and relax. He was doing really great coming into this race. It’s fun to see him come back. He’s a fun horse to have. We can pick our spots with him. It’s been a fun day.”
FRACTIONS: :22.54 :46.42 1:11.47 1:23.73 1:36.25
The stakes win was the 13th of the meet for rider Hernandez and his fourth in the race, including the last four straight with a Baffert-trained horse.
The stakes win was the sixth of the meet for trainer Baffert and his 15th all told in the Shared Belief. He now has 196 stakes wins at Del Mar, the leader by far.
The winning owners were the “Three Amigos,” Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
