O'Neill Sets Del Mar Record With Five Wins
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Doug O'Neill's afternoon at Del Mar went as well as it possibly could July 29.
Of the six starters the 47-year-old conditioner sent out Wednesday, five ran first, which set the record at Del Mar for most wins in a single day by a trainer.
The only horse that didn't win was Housemaker, who finished second behind stablemate Lookin for Money in the seventh race, O'Neill's final win on the card.
"Winning one at Del Mar is truly unbelievable," O'Neill said of the hyper-competitive summer meeting. "We saw the overnight and though everyone had a chance, but we think like that every day... It's been a remarkable day."
O'Neill started the day with R3 Racing and Calara Farms' longshot winner Hye I'm Jack ($28.80 to win) in a starter allowance in the first race; cashed in with Reddam Racing's 3-1 Jimmy Bouncer in the third, an allowance/optional claimer; hit the wire first in the fourth with Great Friends Stable and Pro Selection Stables' Tumbleweedprincess, a 2-year-old maiden; and won for Reddam Racing again with Land Over Sea in the fifth, his only favorite of the day, at 3-5.
"It's incredible. I can't believe it," O'Neill said. "They were all training great, but you rarely get that good of trips. We got really lucky all day and I've just got to thank everyone involved—all the owners, all the staff. We'd be here all day if I thanked everybody."
Four different jockeys won for O'Neill—Tyler Baze, Mario Gutierrez, Alonso Quinonez, and Flavien Prat—with Gutierrez earning two victories aboard Jimmy Bouncer and Land Over Sea.
"It's every horseman's dream to win races like this," O'Neill's assistant, Leandro Mora, said. "It was perfect, because the other one was second. That's considered a winner... It's a dream come true and I'm proud to be (a part of it)."