DEL MAR — As the winner of three stakes races at Del Mar last year, Formidable Man figured to be the favorite going into Sunday’s Grade II Eddie Read Stakes.
But the odds on the 4-year-old son of City of Light shortened again Sunday morning when two of the colt’s closest rivals — former Eddie Read champion Gold Phoenix and Atitlan — were scratched from the 1 1/16-mile turf run for older horses.
Going off as the 4-5 favorite, Formidable Man turned it on in the stretch under jockey Umberto Rispoli to win the Read by a length over Cabo Spirit (Mike Smith) with Stay Hot another 1¾ lengths back in third in the reduced field of six.
Formidable Man was third coming off the far turn, right behind leader Cabo Spirit along the rail with Balnikhov to the outside.
“Yes, there was an anxious moment or two,” said winning trainer Michael McCarthy. “I was hoping the leader would come off the fence a little bit. Umberto was able to sneak up inside there and once he was able to find his stride he leveled off nicely.”
Formidable Man has made five starts at Del Mar and won five times. Last summer, he won the Oceanside Stakes on opening day and the Grade II Del Mar Derby before returning in the fall to win the Grade I Hollywood Derby.
McCarthy said Sunday that a return trip to Del Mar later this meet is a logical next stop for Formidable Man.
Rispoli said Formidable Man is a different horse since McCarthy made the decision to eliminate blinkers.
“He’s a bit more tactical,” said Rispoli. “You can ride him wherever you want. Today, he actually decided to be closer to the pace with Stay Hot. We didn’t want to be too far back like what happened last time (a fourth in the Grade I Shoemaker May 26 at Santa Anita).
“That was a little bit of my fault. I know that he has the speed. I was waiting for the gap to open and he did the rest. He has made a huge improvement from being a 2-year-old to a 4-year-old. He has become a really solid soldier. He’s a two-time Grade I winner. It’s just enjoyable to ride a horse like him.
“And he loves this place.”
Plus, the competition was not what it could have been.
In addition to Gold Phoenix and Atitlan being scratched Sunday morning, defending Read champion Johannes passed up a chance to race Sunday and ships out this week to run back east.
Up next
Racing resumes Thursday with the third week’s feature being the Grade I Clement Hirsch Stakes on Saturday.
The $400,000 Hirsch is a win-and-you’re-in qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nine older fillies and mares have been nominated for the 1 1/16th-mile race, including the Richard Mandella-trained Kopion and three fillies from Bob Baffert’s stable — Hope Road, Nothing Like You and Seismic Beauty, plus the Chilean-bred mare Richi.
The first of five, third-week stakes will be Friday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes for 3-year-olds and is restricted to Cal-breds as part of the Golden State Series. Eight horses were entered Sunday for the seven-furlong race, including trainer Phil D’Amato’s Cal Cup Derby winner Shea Brennan (Antonio Fresu) and Peter Miller’s Echo Eddie Stakes-winning Style Cat (Juan Hernandez).
The second half of Saturday’s stakes doubleheader will be the $150,000 California Dreamin’ at 1 1/16th miles on the turf for Cal-bred 3-year-olds. Next Sunday’s two stakes will be the $100,000 California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (a five-furlong sprint for Cal-bred 2-year-olds) and the $100,000 La Jolla Handicap (1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds).
Notable
With three wins Saturday and three more Sunday — Bit’s Tiger Magic ($4.40) in the seventh, Usha ($11.80) in the eighth and Hello Kid O Kid O ($5.60) in the 11th — reigning Del Mar champion Hernandez moved past Fresu into the lead in the jockey standings. Hernandez has 12 wins after seven days in his bid for a sixth straight Del Mar title. Fresu has nine wins and Hector Berrios has seven to six for Kazushi Kimura.
• Mark Glatt and Miller are tied for the lead in the trainer standings with six wins apiece. McCarthy and Baffert each have five wins.