Exaulted, Undefeated on Turf, Returns in Del Mar Mile

Major players from the Shoemaker Mile (G1T), Eddie Read Stakes (G2T), and Wickerr Stakes will mix it up in the Del Mar Mile (G2T), one of the supporting graded stakes on Del Mar's Sept. 2 card. The $1 million Pacific Classic (G1) is the main event, but the Mile will provide an intriguing intellectual exercise.

Will Exaulted  and Irideo , the one-two finishers at Santa Anita in the Shoemaker Mile, duplicate their form? Or will Du Jour  and I'm A Gambler  have the edge because of their first and third over this course in the one-mile Wickerr? And though the Eddie Read was longer at 1 1/8 miles, two from that race, second and fourth Balnikhov  and Count Again , come from the barn of trainer Phil D'Amato, who seemingly can do no wrong on the turf.

Exaulted has the biggest winning streak of the 10-horse field, having won his last four races, all since trainer Peter Eurton switched him to turf. All four were at a mile at Santa Anita, two at the allowance level, followed by the April 2 American Stakes (G3T) and May 29 Shoemaker Mile.

"He's by a turf sire," Eurton said of Exaulted, a son of Twirling Candy  . "His size is not your typical turf horse. He's like 17 hands, so we always thought he'd be a dirt horse and it just kind of worked out. It's just too bad I didn't try it earlier."

This will be the 6-year-old's 16th start—but he is very consistent. He has five wins, three seconds, and four thirds and has earned more than three times his purchase price of $200,000 for CRK Stable.

Lee Searing of CRK credited Eurton after the Shoemaker Mile, saying, "He looks like a genius, to take the horse off the dirt and put him on the grass and win four in a row."

Exaulted has never lost on turf, nor with Juan Hernandez, who returns to pilot him from post 4.

Irideo ran second to Exaulted in the Shoemaker Mile and American. He returned at Del Mar to run sixth in the Wickerr after bumping with a rival early and becoming rank. Trainer Marcelo Polanco has named Tiago Pereira to ride, and they drew post 10.

Du Jour won the Wickerr for trainer Bob Baffert under Hernandez. Flavien Prat picks up the mount in the Del Mar Mile, and they will break from the rail. Du Jour ran fourth in the American and sixth in the Shoemaker with some trouble in both. He finished second to D'Amato-trained Gold Phoenix  in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1T), and Gold Phoenix won the Eddie Read.

I'm A Gambler will be making his third start in the U.S. and for trainer Mark Glatt. A multiple stakes winner in Great Britain, the 4-year-old gelding ran fourth in the Santa Anita Mathis Mile (G2T) in his U.S. debut prior to his third in the Wickerr. Antonio Fresu rode I'm A Gambler in the Wickerr and will be back in the saddle from post 7.

Balnikhov and Count Again were part of the one-two-three-four onslaught by D'Amato in the Eddie Read. D'Amato has entered Gold Phoenix in the 1 3/8-mile Del Mar Handicap (G2T) on the same card as the Mile. Balnikhov won the one-mile San Francisco Mile (G3T) April 29 at Golden Gate Fields. Hector Berrios will be new to the 4-year-old gelding, riding from post 5. The Eddie Read was Count Again's first race since he won the Shoemaker Mile—in 2022. Umberto Rispoli rides from post 3.