Hronis Racing, Prat, O'Neill Earn Del Mar Titles

Flavien Prat and Doug O'Neill took their places atop the jockey and trainer leader boards midway through the meeting and stayed to the end in winning titles for the 80th Del Mar summer meet that ended Sept. 2.

In winning his third championship, solo or shared, in the past four years, Prat notched 42 wins, 10 more than runner-up Drayden Van Dyke as the two dueled at the top for the second year in a row. Prat's win total tied the 42 of Van Dyke in 2018 and Rafael Bejarano in 2014 as the highest in the past six years.

In 2018 Van Dyke used a seven-win day, which tied the track record, to overcome a Prat lead and went on to his first summer title. This year, a five-win day for Prat Aug. 10 opened up a close race and sent the 26-year-old native of Melun, France on his way to a victory that was clinched a day before the meet ended. It extended Prat's 2019 reign on the Southern California circuit following wins in the Santa Anita Park winter/spring and spring/summer meetings.

Prat also was the top rider for stakes wins with 10. Among them was his first TVG Pacific Classic (G1) victory, aboard Higher Power.

A five-win day, which tied his own track record, also provided the impetus for a sixth Del Mar training title for O'Neill. It happened Wednesday, July 31, matching a similar feat July 29, 2015, and contributed to 24 wins for the season as O'Neill bested Peter Miller by three. O'Neill's win total was the second-highest in six years, second only to Miller's 31 in 2018.

The title went with summer championships in 2004, 2006-07 and 2010 and a fall title in 2015 for the two-time Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and Santa Monica resident.

John Sadler was the top trainer for stakes wins with nine, one more than he totaled in 2018. The stakes bounty boosted Sadler to 76 at Del Mar and advanced him past Bobby Frankel (70) and Charlie Whittingham (74) to third on the track's all-time list, one behind Ron McAnally.

Hronis Racing swept to its fifth Del Mar owner title, winning nine races and a record $1,441,077 in purses. Among those nine victories was an unprecedented seven stakes races.

Hronis Racing is the nom de course for Delano, Calif., brothers Kosta and Pete Hronis. Their trainer since they entered the horse racing business in 2010 has been Sadler, who helped continue their remarkable run this season. The brothers also were Del Mar's leading owners last summer in a year where they won more than $7.3 million overall in purses and an Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding owner.

Finishing second for most purses was Reddam Racing, the nom de course of J. Paul Reddam of Laguna Beach, Calif. His stable, which was Del Mar's leading owner in 2015 and often is in its Top 10 list, won six races and $491,541 in purses.