Brought to you by Tropical Racing
Kangaroo Court (outside) winning the Echo Eddie over Bus Buzz. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Stable Notes By Jim Charvat
DEL MAR, Calif.—The lucrative Golden State Series for Cal-breds resumes Friday at Del Mar when a six pack of 3-year-olds battle in the $175,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at seven furlongs on the main track. It features two colts who put on quite a show four months ago in the Echo Eddie at Santa Anita Park.
Kangaroo Court got the best of the deal that day, hooking up in a stretch long duel with Bus Buzz who had carved out quick opening fractions in the 6 ½ furlong race. Kangaroo Court nudged his nose in front on the wire in a race no one deserved to lose.
“He got beat in the last jump,” trainer Steve Knapp says of Bus Buzz. “We could have just as easily won that race.”
Knapp says his horse is coming into the Real Good Deal well.
“He’s coming into the race like he’s supposed to,” Knapp says. “He’s a very nice horse.”
Kangaroo Court is also coming into the Real Good Deal in good order. He’s coming off of a trip to Kentucky and a run in the G2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. The son of Dads Caps finished eleventh of 13 horses that day.
“We’re gonna have to,” trainer Tim Yakteen says about drawing a line through the last race. “That was a puzzler. He had trained exceptionally well, and I was confident he was going to run a big race. We did come out of the one hole but I’m not going to make any excuses. He just didn’t fire.”
If Kangaroo Court and Bus Buzz hook up again, it could set up nicely for a stalker like Giver Not a Taker, a winner at Del Mar last summer. The son of Danzing Candy returns with his Cal-bred friends after trying entry level allowances in open company in his last two races. The winner of the $125,000 I’m Smokin’ on closing weekend of the 2022 Del Mar summer meet will be trying 7-furlongs for the second time in his young career.
The last time Giver Not a Taker went 7-furlongs was in the Golden State Juvenile at Santa Anita last year and he finished second to Passarando. He followed that up with a win in the $100,000 King Glorious and then a runner-up finish to Thirsty John in the $200,000 Cal Cup Derby.
Trainer Peter Miller gave Giver Not a Taker a five-month freshening before bringing him back in open company in June. He finished third at Santa Anita and fourth at Los Alamitos, six lengths back of the winner in both six-furlong sprint races.
Another Real Good Deal horse of note is Clouseau, from the Ian Kruljac barn. He finished third to Kangaroo Court and Bus Buzz in the Echo Eddie, 6 ¼ lengths back of the dueling pair. He followed that outing with a win in an entry level allowance race at one mile and then ran second to Old Pal in the $150,000 Snow Chief on the turf at a mile and an eighth at Santa Anita at the end of May.
The Real Good Deal goes off as race six on the eight-race Friday twilight program. Approximate post time is 6:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail out with jockeys and morning line odds.
1. Kangaroo Court (Juan Hernandez, 8/5)
2. Giver Not a Taker (Antonio Fresu, 5-1)
3. Boss Sully (Ramon Vasquez, 6-1)
4. Bus Buzz (Edwin Maldonado, 9/5)
5. Barely Functional (Mario Gutierrez, 20-1)
6. Geezer (scratched)
7. Clouseau (Geovanni Franco, 4-1)
