DEL MAR, Calif.— Another week in the books and not much change in the rider and trainer standings at Del Mar. Juan Hernandez continues to dominate on track while the trainers race is as tight as ever.
Hernandez had another outstanding week, winning eight races, giving him 27 wins total and a 12-victory cushion over his closest rival, Umberto Rispoli, who has 15 wins. Hernandez capped the week with three wins on Sunday. He’s winning at a 26% clip and he’s been in the money on 55% of his mounts. He’s collected over $1,919,666 in purses.
Rounding out the top five in the jockey standings are Joe Bravo with 12, Ramon Vasquez with 10 and Hector Berrios with eight.
The trainers standings at Del Mar is not so defined. Doug O’Neill and Bob Baffert are tied at the top with 10 wins apiece, paved mostly with victories by their 2-year-olds. Half of O’Neill’s wins have come with a 2-year-old while Baffert has won six times with his ‘babies’, two by Havnameltdown, last Sunday’s winner of the G3 Best Pal.
Baffert has accumulated his 10 wins with only 35 starts.
“Fortunately we had some that were ready to run early,” Baffert said. “We still have some more 2-year-olds to run. I never worry about the trainer standings; I just worry about developing these young horses.”
Right behind the leading duo are the trio of Phil D’Amato, Peter Miller and George Papaprodromou, all with nine victories each. Mark Glatt is a close sixth with eight wins.
D’Amato leads in earnings by trainers. He’s pocketed $1,175,306 in purses by way of his three stakes wins, two of them graded, the G2 San Clemente with Bellabel and the G2 Yellow Ribbon with Going Global. His closest contender is Baffert with $809,470.
The partnership of Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman have the most victories among the owners at Del Mar this summer with five. C R K Stable is next with four.
Notes: Bob Baffert reports that Havnameltdown came out of his G3 Best Pal victory on Sunday “really well.” He says the G1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on closing day, September 11 is an option right now…Notable works for Thursday: Dirt – Fast and Shiny (4f, 49.40); Beyond Brilliant (5f, 1:00.80), and War At Sea (6f, 1:13.00). Turf – Leggs Galore (3f, 37.60), and None Above the Law (4f, 50.00). A total of 80 horses put in official works on the dirt Thursday, 21 on the turf.
DMTC Press Release
Photo: Juan Hernandez (Benoit Photo)
