Full Serrano Mounts Turf Comeback in Del Mar Mile

Full Serrano  makes his first start since his Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) victory last fall in the $300,000 Del Mar Mile Stakes (G2T) Aug. 30 at Del Mar. 

Unlike on the 2024 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) card, where the John Sadler trainee competed in the day's main event, dropping a half-length decision to Mixto , Full Serrano will instead launch his comeback on the turf. Since being imported from his native Argentina, Full Serrano has raced exclusively on the dirt, sporting a 2-for-3 record on the Del Mar main track. The 6-year-old son of Full Mast  is not quite a stranger to the grass, however, and did win a listed stakes and was group 3-placed on the turf in South America. 

Benched with an undisclosed injury following his Breeders' Cup glory, Full Serrano has been breezing steadily toward his return since reappearing on the work tab in July. 

Campaigned by Hronis Racing, Full Serrano will break from the outer 8 post as the 126-pound co-high weight. Juan Hernandez, the current leading jockey at the Del Mar summer meet, will ride the dark bay or brown horse for the first time Saturday. Sadler cross-entered the horse in a Sept. 1 allowance optional claiming race at Del Mar. That six-horse event is over a mile on the main track against five rivals at equal weight.

Although skipping a showdown with Preakness Stakes (G1) hero Journalism  and top older males Fierceness  and Nysos  in the Pacific Classic, the Del Mar Mile will be no cake walk for the returning Full Serrano. The mile contest drew top Southern California turfers such as Shoemaker Mile Stakes (G1T) victor King of Gosford  as well as the 1-2 finishers from Del Mar's July 27 Eddie Read Stakes (G2T) in Formidable Man  and Cabo Spirit . 

Despite his terrific race record at Santa Anita Park, the Phil D'Amato-trained King of Gosford is only 1-for-4 on the Del Mar turf, with his sole victory coming in last year's restricted Let It Ride Stakes. Moreover, the British-bred son of Zoustar  has made sizable steps since his 3-year-old year, highlighted by a closing last-out score in the May 26 Shoemaker Mile over Cabo Spirit and Formidable Man.

The latter-mentioned pair have knocked heads already three times this year in advance of Saturday's round 4. Mr. and Mrs. W.K. Warren Jr.'s Formidable Man has come out on top in two of those outings, including a half-length tally in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park in March. The two-time grade 1 winner, trained by Michael McCarthy, earned a career-best 110 Equibase Speed Figure when defeating Cabo Spirit by one length in the Eddie Read.

Drawing in with an impost of 122 pounds in the Del Mar Mile, carrying four pounds less than his familiar rivals, Kretz Racing's Cabo Spirit will be out for vengeance Saturday. Run down late in the Eddie Read, the speedy Pioneerof the Nile gelding will likely play catch me if you can with the field again as he breaks from the 2 hole. 

Sadler and D'Amato will each saddle another contender in addition to Full Serrano and King of Gosford in the French import Suchet , second in his North American debut in a Del Mar allowance optional claimer, and Almendares , a recent come-from-behind winner of the July 19 Wickerr Stakes over Kilroe Mile runner-up Zio Jo .