DEL MAR — Gold Phoenix made history Sunday. And the 8-year-old gelding might not be done.
Under the heady ride of turf expert Hector Berrios, Gold Phoenix saved ground inside, held off 3-5 favorite Formidable Man down the stretch and caught Cabo Spirit near the wire to win the $250,000 Grade II Eddie Read Stakes.
The victory was the record sixth Del Mar stakes win for the Irish-bred Gold Phoenix. And later this summer, Gold Phoenix will attempt to win a fifth straight Del Mar Handicap.
“What’s notable to me is that all six of his Del Mar stakes wins have come during the traditional summer meeting,” said trainer Phil D’Amato. “Old-school. That’s special.”
And surprising.
Mike Smith had Cabo Spirit on the lead throughout the 1 1/8-mile run and still looked strong nearing the wire. And Formidable Man ran just ahead of Gold Phoenix for most of the race. But Gold Phoenix was inside both his main rivals and might have saved just enough ground to make the difference.
Gold Phoenix finished a nose in front of Cabo Spirit. Formidable Man was third, another head back.
The win was Gold Phoenix’s sixth in 11 Del Mar starts. All have come in stakes races.
“We were all the way in the back for most of the trip,” Berrios said of Gold Phoenix’s winning run. “Coming out of the chute, I got put in tight and my horse stumbled. But he picked himself up and we did fine from there.
“I had room near the fence turning for home, then we found room between horses and it was, ‘Vamanos!’ He did it.”
“We didn’t have any real trouble,” said John Velazquez, the jockey aboard Formidable Man. “Well, maybe just a bit. When we came for home, I had to switch lanes with him, and that took away some of his momentum. But that’s just a case of it being horse racing.”
D’Amato thought Gold Phoenix was headed for a third-place finish at the top of the stretch, which would have in itself been a strong prep for a run at a fifth straight Del Mar Handicap.
“But when he and Formidable Man hooked up, I could just see it in his eyes that he wasn’t going to let that horse pass him.”
Cornucopian euthanized
Cornucopian, the 6-5 favorite who suffered a catastrophic right front fetlock injury while moving forward in the Grade I six-furlong Bing Crosby sprint Saturday, was euthanized Sunday morning.
“Heavy hearts today,” Tom Ryan of lead owner SF Racing posted to X (formerly Twitter) just after 10:30 a.m.
“We worked very closely with our veterinary team. After hearing every expert opinion available, the kindest and clearest decision was to let him go with dignity. He was a brilliant colt with a huge heart and a partnership and fan base that loved him dearly. RIP.”
The 4-year-old son of Into Mischief was making a move at the quarter pole on the far turn under jockey Juan Hernandez when he suffered the injury. Hernandez did an excellent job of easing Cornucopia, who was fitted with a brace before being removed from the track in an equine ambulance.
After being evaluated at a backstretch facility, Cornucopian was returned to Baffert’s barn just before 8 p.m. Saturday and further evaluated overnight before the euthanasia decision was made Sunday morning.
Cornucopian had won four of his eight career starts with $462,155 in earnings. He won the Grade III Aristides Stakes on May 30 at Churchill Downs and the Grade III San Carlos on March 29 at Santa Anita.
Cornucopian was the first breakdown during a race and first fatality at Del Mar this summer. Twenty-four hours later, there was a second.
Can You Dream, a 3-year-old filly trained by Rafael DeLeon, sustained a left front fetlock injury on the backstretch of Sunday’s eighth race and was euthanized due to the severity of the injury. Can You Dream had one win in 16 career starts.
Classic gains
Another quality horse could be headed to the Aug. 22 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
Trainer Bill Mott said Sunday he intends to nominate Knightsbridge, a 5-year-old son of Nyquist, for the $1 million feature to Del Mar’s summer meeting. Knightsbridge won the Grade III Monmouth Cup by 10¼ lengths last week while taking on two turns and a length longer than a mile for the first time. He also posted the year’s top Beyer Speed Figure of 122.
Baffert has pointed Nysos toward the Pacific Classic and already has the horse training at Del Mar. Nysos won the Met Mile at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes Day with Knightsbridge finishing second.
On deck
Saturday’s Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes highlights the third weekend of Del Mar’s 32-day summer meeting. The $400,000 Hirsch has drawn nominations from 13 fillies and mares, with the 1 1/16-mile winner also earning an automatic spot in the field for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
The three other stakes next weekend will be Cal-bred events – Friday’s $150,000 Real Good Deal (seven furlongs, 3-year-olds) and the Sunday doubleheader of the $150,000 California Dreamin (1 1/16th mile on the turf for older horses), and the 73rd running of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes (2-year-old fillies).
Notable
Jockey Antonio Fresu has drawn a three-day suspension for failing to make an effort to maintain a straight course in the stretch of Saturday’s 11th race, resulting in the disqualification of his mount, Lady In Paris, from first to fourth.