River Boyne Seeks First Graded Victory in La Jolla

Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's River Boyne has established himself as a top 3-year-old turf horse in Southern California, but he'll have to take on upstart Oceanside Stakes winner Restrainedvengence in the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap (G3T) Aug. 5 at Del Mar.

River Boyne, an Irish-bred Dandy Man colt trained by Jeff Mullins, has been close to flawless on the California grass since he relocated to the U.S. in 2017, after three races in Europe to start his career.

Following a runner-up performance in his U.S. debut in November at Del Mar, River Boyne has won four straight races on the turf in California—including stakes scores in the Pasadena and Rainbow at Santa Anita Park—with the only interruption a fifth-place finish in the American Turf Stakes presented by Ram Trucks (G2T) when he shipped to Churchill Downs.

BALAN: River Boyne Much the Best in Rainbow Stakes

While River Boyne has been a consistent winner at short prices, Kelly Brinkerhoff and Bob Grayson Jr.'s Restrainedvengence broke through at a price (11-1) for his first stakes win in the July 18 Oceanside with a closing bid under jockey Evin Roman.

BALAN: Restrainedvengence Surges Late to Take Oceanside

Also in the six-horse field is a trio of return challengers from the Oceanside—Calexman (third), Move Over (fifth), and Arawak (sixth)—as well as multiple stakes-placed Inscom, who finished second to River Boyne by a length in the Pasadena three starts back March 17.

Entries: La Jolla H. (G3T)

Del Mar, Sunday, August 05, 2018, Race 3

• Grade IIIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 3:03 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Move Over (GB)	Tyler Baze	118	John W. Sadler	6/1
2	2River Boyne (IRE)	Flavien Prat	122	Jeff Mullins	7/5
3	3Arawak (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	118	Doug F. O'Neill	5/1
4	4Restrainedvengence (KY)	Evin A. Roman	121	Val Brinkerhoff	7/2
5	5Calexman (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	118	Vladimir Cerin	3/1
6	6Inscom (KY)	Martin Garcia	117	Simon Callaghan	12/1