Nolde Digs Deep to Win Del Mar Derby
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Nolde wins the Del Mar Derby at Del Mar
In a daring move that saw him split horses in deep stretch and sail to the lead, Jerome Moss' homebred Nolde picked up the first stakes win of his career in the $251,404 Del Mar Derby (G2T) Sept. 1 at Del Mar.
It was a bit of a bumpy start for the outside posts in the 1 1/8-mile turf test. Kingly broke inward from the far outside and collided briefly with Nolo Contesto. Kingly was quickly corrected by jockey Mario Gutierrez, angled back out, and drove to the front of the pack with surprising ease to establish a three-length lead on the backside.
Neptune's Storm and Florent Geroux tracked Kingly early from their spot just off the rail as the leader ticked off fractions of :23.44 and :47.80 for the half-mile. Gutierrez and Kingly made a brief attempt to slow the pace but were pressed hard by Neptune's Storm, who was within striking distance of the leader as six furlongs went in 1:11.63.
Moving into the top of the lane, Neptune's Storm began his drive to the front and easily came on even terms with Kingly before striding away to take control just off the turn. The lead was short-lived as Victor Espinoza and Nolde found an opening just off the rail and moved up between the frontrunner and Kingly.
Originaire made a four-wide bid for the lead, followed closely by a late-running Hackberry. Nolde was able to maintain momentum to the wire and won by a neck in a final time of 1:46.98.
Originaire was second, followed by Neptune's Storm in third. Hackberry got up for fourth, followed by Kingly. Moody Jim, Nolo Contesto, Visitant, and Parsimony completed the order.
"I thought I had an awesome chance (at the quarter pole)," Espinoza said. "Pretty much the whole race I had control. I started getting a little tired on the backside, so I had to rest a little bit for the end. He's not an easy horse to figure out, but between John (Shirreffs) and I—and John is an amazing trainer and has done an amazing job with this horse because he has the talent—you have to let him come to you in the way he does it. He's an awesome horse, and we got the job done."
Stepping up to graded company for the first time, Nolde entered Sunday's race off a runner-up finish in the July 17 Runhappy Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar. The colt broke his maiden May 3 at Santa Anita Park before scoring a three-quarter-length win in an allowance optional claiming race at the Southern California track.
"Sometimes when you get on this horse, he's nice and easygoing," Espinoza said. "Not today. He was strong, like a bull. I like that. He was telling me he was ready. When we ran last time, I knew he ran a good race, but I knew he'd be better next time. He's got a long stride, and distance is going to be good for him. He's not an easy horse to ride, but he's got a lot of talent. We've just got to figure out a way to bring it out. When I sent him inside today, he just went. He was ready."
"The Oceanside prepared him nicely for this, which was the plan," Shirreffs said. "We were very happy with the way the horse trained for the race. Victor has ridden him a number of times and really knows the horse. He got him settled in a nice position, and Nolde has a really nice turn of foot. We're happy to have him ride our horses. He's a great rider."
Bred in Kentucky out of the Dixie Union mare Sister Moon, Nolde is a son of the late Pioneerof the Nile. Sister Moon has a yearling Empire Maker filly and foaled a Quality Road colt Feb. 14. Nolde improved his record to 3-2-1 from eight starts, with $270,470 in earnings.
Encoder Stays Perfect with Juvenile Turf Win
Earlier on the day's card, Hronis Racing's Encoder, trained by John Sadler and ridden by Flavien Prat, rallied impressively to win the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes by a head. The stakes win came less than a month after the son of English Channel broke his maiden on debut Aug. 7. The final time for the one-mile Juvenile Turf was 1:35.31 over turf rated firm.
Bred in Kentucky by Peter Lamantia and Greg Ramsby, Encoder is the first foal out of the Hard Spun mare Nono Rose, who also has a yearling Dominus colt named Arranged. Encoder was purchased last year for $60,000 by Martin Anthony from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment to The October Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall yearling sale. Encoder has banked $96,600 for both of his winning starts.