River Boyne Tops Del Mar Derby Field

How long did it take trainer Jeff Mullins to know what he had in Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's River Boyne?

"About a week," the trainer said with a laugh Aug. 30.

When the Dandy Man colt came to Mullins' barn in Southern California after three races in Europe to start his career, he got to the races just a week later.

River Boyne didn't get a breeze for the race, entered a maiden special weight at Del Mar "right off the plane," and finished second Nov. 24 to eventual graded winner Blended Citizen. The colt may not have won, but Mullins was encouraged by the feedback from jockey Flavien Prat.

"We didn't know much until those gates opened, but after the race (Prat) said, 'He's a running son of a gun,'" remembered Mullins, maybe adding a little twang through poetic license for the French jockey.

Mullins has always felt River Boyne looked more like a sprinter—"he's built Quarter Horse-y"—but since his U.S. debut, River Boyne has been untouchable going two turns on the turf in Southern California and will look to take the next step Sept. 2 in the $250,000 Del Mar Derby (G2T).

"He's just an athlete," Mullins said of the Irish-bred, who has won five straight grass races in California, including his first graded stakes win last time out in the Aug. 5 La Jolla Handicap (G3T). His only blemish during that span was a fifth in the May 5 American Turf Stakes presented by Ram Trucks (G2T) at Churchill Downs. "The only thing about him is that he doesn't like soft ground, and that's what he ran into at Churchill."

BALAN: River Boyne Makes the Grade in La Jolla Handicap

With rain entirely absent from the Del Mar summer and with no signs of change in that respect, River Boyne has established himself as the horse to beat in the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Derby. There isn't another graded winner in the field, but there are stakes winners, including Oceanside Stakes victor Restrainedvengence, Baffle Stakes winner Pubilius Syrus, and back-to-back California-bred stakes winner Take the One O One.

BALAN: Restrainedvengence Surges Late to Take Oceanside

Jay Em Ess Stable's Take the One O One, an Acclamation colt trained by Brian Koriner, won the July 27 Real Good Deal Stakes sprinting on dirt last time out at Del Mar but also has good form over the green, as he scored the Snow Chief Stakes at 1 1/8 miles June 2 at Santa Anita Park. He also has experience in graded competition, with a third-place finish in the Sept. 30 FrontRunner Stakes (G1) behind Bolt d'Oro and Solomini.

BALAN: Take the One O One Takes the Rail in Real Good Deal Win

Adding some spice to the mix is Ride a Comet, the lone East Coast shipper in the field who finished third in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course last time out, and the only filly in the field, grade 2-placed Animosity, who finished 11th last time out in the Del Mar Oaks Presented by The Jockey Club (G1T).

Allowance winners Majestic Eagle, Kazan, and Desert Stone, along with maiden victors Epical and Andesh and La Jolla runner-up Arawak, complete the field.

Entries: Del Mar Derby (G2T)

Del Mar, Sunday, September 02, 2018, Race 8

• Grade IIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $250,000
• 3 yo
• 5:35 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Epical (KY)	Tyler Baze	122	James M. Cassidy	20/1
2	2Desert Stone (IRE)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Richard Baltas	6/1
3	3River Boyne (IRE)	Flavien Prat	122	Jeff Mullins	5/2
4	4Restrainedvengence (KY)	Evin A. Roman	122	Val Brinkerhoff	20/1
5	5Arawak (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Doug F. O'Neill	8/1
6	6Pubilius Syrus (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	122	Vladimir Cerin	8/1
7	7Andesh (IRE)	Geovanni Franco	122	Philip D'Amato	15/1
8	8Ride a Comet (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Mark E. Casse	7/2
9	9Take the One O One (CA)	Joseph Talamo	122	Brian J. Koriner	8/1
10	10Kazan (IRE)	Martin Garcia	122	Simon Callaghan	12/1
11	11Majestic Eagle (KY)	Gary L. Stevens	122	Neil D. Drysdale	15/1
12	12Animosity (KY)	Tyler Conner	119	Patrick Gallagher	20/1