Del Mar Futurity

For the 18th time, the GI Del Mar Futurity belongs to trainer Bob Baffert. The Hall of Fame trainer sent three horses to post Sunday in Del Mar's Closing Day feature and, while race favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Getaway Car (Curlin) was the expected winner, it was 7-2 shot Gaming (Game Winner) who stole the spotlight. He lined up facing not just his own talented stablemates (including the aforementioned favorite along with Citizen Bull {Into Mischief}) but also another gate-to-wire maiden winner in McKinzie Street (McKinzie) for Tim Yakteen....

It's the final day of the meet where the 'turf meets the surf' where trainer Bob Baffert will likely finish the afternoon with an unprecedented 18th winner of the GI Del Mar Futurity, the final major contest of the season before the track gets all decked out in purple for the arrival of the Breeders' Cup in early November. The Hall of Famer saddles three of Sunday's seven intended runners, each capable of walking away with the victory on their best. 'TDN Rising Star' Getaway Car (Curlin) is the most...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has scheduled a 31-day/39 stakes program topped by its premier offering--the 34th running of the $1-million GI FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic slated for Saturday, Aug. 31. Del Mar is also projecting a total purse distribution of more than $26.6 million over the course of the eight-week season. The shore oval's 85th summer session staged alongside the blue Pacific opens Saturday, July 20 and races ahead to Sunday, Sept. 8. The Pacific Classic will be the highlight of a rich afternoon that will feature five graded stakes,...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the summer's boutique meetings. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Sunday at Del Mar, including previously raced horses competing in the GI Del Mar Futurity: Sunday, September 10, 2023 Del Mar 4, $82k, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 5:59 p.m. ET Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze Blisterinthesun...

The training and next-race status of sophomore 'TDN Rising Stars' Cave Rock (Arrogate) and Faustin (Curlin) remained unclear Thursday, with trainer Bob Baffert texting a "Don't Know" emoji when asked to outline the game plans for the colts respectively slotted at Nos. 5 and 6 on the most recent TDN Top 12 rankings for the GI Kentucky Derby. The two were apparently not among a contingent of at least 11 other 3-year-old colts transferred out of Baffert's care prior to a Feb. 28 deadline that would have enabled them to...

Last year's GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity S. winner Pinehurst (Twirling Candy--Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway) has been retired from racing and will stand the 2023 breeding season at Gary Broad's Walmac Farm after being acquired in partnership with Kiki and Louise Courtelis's Town and Country Farms Nov. 22 in a Fasig-Tipton Digital 'Flash Sale.' The price, a record for a digital sales price in the U.S., was undisclosed, according to Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales. "Tom Ryan [of SF Bloodstock] called us on Wednesday of last week...

Pinehurst (Twirling Candy--Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway), winner of last year's GI Del Mar Futurity and this year's G3 Saudi Derby, will be offered on Fasig-Tipton Digital in a one-horse auction beginning Thursday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. ET and concluding Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. ET. Pinehurst is being offered by ELiTE, agent, as a racing or stallion prospect. The bay, bred on a similar cross to Gun Runner, was a debut winner at Del Mar last August and followed up with a 4 1/2-length victory in the...