Zoffarelli Seeks Graded Stakes Double in Del Mar Derby

The six horses who finished in the top three spots in the Runhappy Oceanside Stakes and La Jolla Handicap (G3T) at Del Mar face eight others Sept. 4 in the $250,000 Del Mar Derby Presented by Caesars Sportsbook (G2T).

The Del Mar Derby goes as the final race on the 11-race card, which begins a half-hour earlier than the track's usual 2 p.m. post time, at 1:30 PDT. The Derby's post time is scheduled for 6:30 PDT.

The one-mile Oceanside, 1 1/16-mile La Jolla, and 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Derby make up a turf triple for 3-year-olds during the summer Del Mar meeting. Rarely does a horse sweep the series—Blackdoun  being the most recent in 2004. A little more frequently, a horse wins the final two, such as in 2017, when Sharp Samurai  completed that double but did not compete in the Oceanside.

The Cohen family's Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal owned Sharp Samurai with trainer Mark Glatt and this year have Zoffarelli , trained by Jeff Mullins, following a similar Del Mar path. Sharp Samurai did all his running in this country, however, while the Cohens purchased Zoffarelli privately in Europe. 

"Zoffarelli had run in a really nice handicap at Bath in June, a 3 and up, and it was a really good race," said Tim Cohen. "Everything about him looked solid. He had good form on firm ground."

In the La Jolla, his first U.S. start, Zoffarelli finished second to Sword Zorro  and was elevated to first after Sword Zorro was disqualified and placed third for interfering with Zoffarelli and third-place finisher Hudson Ridge .

Mullins only had Zoffarelli for eight days prior to the La Jolla, but Cohen said that Ralph Beckett, Zoffarelli's English conditioner, in effect trained him for the La Jolla over there. A gelded son of Zoffany , Zoffarelli won once and finished second five times in seven English starts.

"He ran second in some quality races," said Cohen. "He's doing great. He's thriving and moving forward."

Drayden Van Dyke, who piloted Zoffarelli in the La Jolla, will be back aboard from post 9.

Hudson Ridge (Flavien Prat, post 1) was elevated to second in the La Jolla when Sword Zorro was moved to third. Bob Baffert trains Hudson Ridge, who won the Cinema Stakes. Baffert's wife, Jill, owns the Kentucky-bred son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah   with Double L Racing.

John Sadler trains Sword Zorro, another son of Zoffany, for owner Yuesheng Zhang. Sword Zorro (Umberto Rispoli, post 13) finished second to Hudson Ridge in the Cinema and won the Singletary Stakes.

Sadler also trains Hronis Racing's Crew Dragon  (Juan Hernandez, post 12), a Kentucky-bred son of Exaggerator  . Crew Dragon ran second in the Oceanside and, instead of running in the La Jolla, captured a one-mile turf optional claimer Aug. 12 by a head over Hockey Dad , another Del Mar Derby entrant.

Hockey Dad (Mario Gutierrez, post 3) is a graded stakes-placed son of Nyquist   bred in California by owner Reddam Racing and trained by Doug O'Neill. 

Flashiest  and No Foolery Here , first and third in the Oceanside, return for the Derby. Abel Cedillo will be aboard Flashiest from post 14 for trainer Leonard Powell, and Geovanni Franco will ride No Foolery Here from post 5 for trainer Richard Baltas.

The Derby field includes three other stakes winners: None Above the Law  (Joe Bravo from post 4 for trainer Peter Miller), Cathkin Peak  (Jose Valdivia Jr. from post 8 for trainer Phil D'Amato), and Jimmy Blue Jeans  (Kyle Frey from post 10 for trainer Andy Mathis).

Entries: Del Mar Derby Presented by Caesars Sportsbook (G2T)

Del Mar, Saturday, September 04, 2021, Race 11

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $250,000
• 3 yo
• 6:37 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Hudson Ridge (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Bob Baffert	9/2
2	2Barraza (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	122	Vladimir Cerin	12/1
3	3Hockey Dad (CA)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Doug F. O'Neill	8/1
4	4None Above the Law (CA)	Joe Bravo	122	Peter Miller	12/1
5	5No Foolery Here (KY)	Geovanni Franco	122	Richard Baltas	8/1
98	6Optimistic Valor (KY)	SCRATCHED	0	UNKNOWN	-
6	7Petruchio (KY)	Mike E. Smith	122	Richard E. Mandella	20/1
7	8Cathkin Peak (IRE)	Jose Valdivia, Jr.	122	Philip D'Amato	12/1
8	9Zoffarelli (IRE)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Jeff Mullins	6/1
9	10Jimmy Blue Jeans (CA)	Kyle Frey	122	Andy Mathis	12/1
10	11Lincoln Hawk (IRE)	Tiago Josue Pereira	122	Richard Baltas	20/1
11	12Crew Dragon (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	122	John W. Sadler	8/1
12	13Sword Zorro (IRE)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	122	John W. Sadler	5/1
13	14Flashiest (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Leonard Powell	6/1