Hit the Road, Encoder Meet Again in Cecil B. DeMille

Juvenile turf stakes winners Hit the Road and Encoder head a field of 13 in the $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3T) and share the 124-pound top-weight in the mile test on Del Mar's lawn.

Hit the Road, who drew the rail, will try to rebound off a disappointing outcome in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) at Santa Anita Park. The More Than Ready  colt finished seventh, beaten only 2 1/2 lengths, but was disqualified to last of 14 after coming out, dropping back, and causing Deviant to clip heels before trailing home. One start earlier Hit the Road rallied to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Oct. 6 Zuma Beach Stakes, run a mile at Santa Anita.

Video: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T)

Jockey Victor Espinoza was aboard for the Zuma Beach and will ride again Sunday for Dan Blacker, who trains Hit the Road for D K Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold, and Dave Odmark.

Hronis Racing's Encoder won over this course and distance Sept. 1 in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes. He then finished fourth as the favorite in the Zuma Beach and then shortened to five furlongs in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T), finishing sixth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths after steadying on the backstretch. The English Channel  colt, trained by John Sadler, will have an extra three furlongs to make up ground Sunday.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will ride for the first time, breaking from post 2.

Godolphin's homebred Albert Park will step up in company and make his turf debut after two wins on all-weather surfaces. The Street Sense  colt won first out at Arlington International Race Course Sept. 19 before taking the Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes Oct. 9 at Presque Isle Downs. The Cecil B. DeMille will be Albert Park's first time running past 6 1/2 furlongs.

Trainer Michael Stidham has assigned Florent Geroux the mount, who will carry 122 pounds, from post 5.

Also set to try turf for the first time is Reddam Racing's Fore Left, who finished third in the Nov. 9 Golden Nugget Stakes on Golden Gate Fields' all-weather track. The Twirling Candy  colt's previous six starts were on dirt, including victories in the June 7 Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park and Oct. 20 Sunny Slope Stakes at Santa Anita, the latter restricted to 2-year-olds who had not won a graded event. Fore Left also finished third in the Aug. 10 Best Pal Stakes (G2) on Del Mar's dirt. He is unplaced in two starts beyond 6 1/2 furlongs, although those two races also came in grade 1s.

Mario Gutierrez will ride the Doug O'Neill trainee from post 6.

The Cecil B. DeMille is the first of three graded turf stakes scheduled on closing day of Del Mar's fall meet, followed by the $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) and $300,000 Matriarch Stakes (G1T) later on the card.

Entries: Cecil B. DeMille S. (G3T)

Del Mar, Sunday, December 01, 2019, Race 3

• Grade IIIT
• 1m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 2 yo
• 1:00 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Hit the Road (KY)	Victor Espinoza	124	Dan Blacker	5/1
2	2Encoder (KY)	John R. Velazquez	124	John W. Sadler	8/1
3	3Kanderel (KY)	Jorge I. Velez	120	Richard E. Mandella	5/1
4	4Hariboux (GB)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Jeff Mullins	9/2
5	5Albert Park (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Michael Stidham	12/1
6	6Fore Left (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Doug F. O'Neill	12/1
7	7Goliad (KY)	Flavien Prat	120	Richard E. Mandella	7/2
8	8Liar Liar (IRE)	Rafael Bejarano	120	Richard Baltas	12/1
9	9War Beast (KY)	Abel Cedillo	120	Doug F. O'Neill	20/1
10	10Midnight Jostar (KY)	Jose Valdivia, Jr.	118	Patrick Gallagher	20/1
11	11Smooth Like Strait (KY)	Geovanni Franco	120	Michael W. McCarthy	12/1
12	12Last Opportunity (IRE)	Manuel Franco	120	Neil D. Drysdale	15/1
13	13Go Time (KY)	Paco Lopez	118	Peter Miller	20/1