Instagrand Set for Stakes Debut in Best Pal

Since a 10-length debut victory June 29 at Los Alamitos Race Course, OXO Equine's Instagrand is about the same, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.

"He's doing the same thing he was doing before," the Hall of Fame trainer said. "He's training well, and (he's taken to Del Mar) very nicely."

That might be why only four 2-year-olds opted to run against him in the $200,000 Best Pal Stakes (G2) Aug. 11 at Del Mar.

If the Into Mischief  colt, who was purchased by owner Larry Best for $1.2 million, runs anything close to his debut romp in the six-furlong Best Pal, his rivals will likely only get a view of his hindquarters in the stretch. Instagrand's final time of :56.00 for five furlongs was just 32 hundredths of a second off the track record for the distance, and jockey Drayden Van Dyke wasn't exactly urging him in the final sixteenth after he repelled a trio of rivals who challenged him in the turn.

"You always hope what you see in the morning, you see in the afternoon," Hollendorfer said of the promising runner.

The main challenger to Instagrand appears to be Reddam Racing's Owning, a Flashback  colt trained by Simon Callaghan who also debuted with a victory at Los Alamitos. The gray/roan's score came July 8 in a 5 1/2-furlong sprint, where he raced just off early leader Hartel—who recently won a maiden grass sprint at Del Mar—and wandered quite a bit in the stretch but still prevailed by 2 1/2 lengths.

"It was a good performance first time out. He was still a little green, which was what he had showed us in the morning, but you couldn't have asked much more from him to win first time out," Callaghan said. "He's made a move forward for the race and he's trained very well here, but obviously Instagrand looked super impressive first time out. So we're going to have to move forward, and we think he can give him a race."

The other debut winner in the field is the Doug O'Neill-trained Mason Dixon, a Union Rags  colt who closed from 9 1/4 lengths back to win his first start July 21—a $150,000 claiming race—by three-quarters of a length.

Rounding out the field is maiden winner Sparky Ville, a Candy Ride  colt who sped to victory in his second start for trainer Jeff Bonde June 9 at Santa Anita Park, and maiden Synthesis, who is winless in three maiden special weight tries but has placed twice, including a third to Sparky Ville June 9.

Entries: Best Pal S. (G2)

Del Mar, Saturday, August 11, 2018, Race 3

• Grade II
• 6f
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 2 yo
• 3:03 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Instagrand (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	118	Jerry Hollendorfer	1/2
2	2Owning (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	118	Simon Callaghan	5/2
3	3Synthesis (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	118	J. Keith Desormeaux	15/1
4	4Mason Dixon (KY)	Flavien Prat	118	Doug F. O'Neill	5/1
5	5Sparky Ville (KY)	Gary L. Stevens	120	Jeff Bonde	10/1