Del Mar Picks | Del Mar Futurity 2024

Aaron previews the 2024 Del Mar Futurity (G1) at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club & gives his top win pick from the feature race on Closing Day.

Trainer Bob Baffert looks to win his 4th straight & record-extending 18th overall edition of this race with 3 entries: Getaway Car, Gaming, & Citizen Bull.

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The press release:

It’s always a fitting way to put a cap on the summer meet’s stakes schedule by running a race filled with potential stars of the future. The G1 Del Mar Futurity will be run Sunday. It has attracted seven juvenile colts, three from the Bob Baffert barn.

All three have won at Del Mar this summer. In the case of Getaway Car, he’s won twice. The son of Curlin broke his maiden at first asking, winning by 3 ½ lengths on opening day. He came back and dominated the G3 Best Pal last month, winning by 5 ½ lengths. 

“This guy’s been a lot of fun,” Baffert said. “He has a great name. He’s doing well and he’s fast. He’s always been very forward, no issues training him and he has a beautiful stride.”

Gaming is another impressive first-time-out winner entered in the Futurity by Baffert. The son of Game Winner broke his maiden on the same card as Getaway Car’s Best Pal win (August 11), crossing the line 5 ½ lengths to the best. His sire is a horse Baffert trained in 2018 and ’19.

“We buy these horses and they send them to me,” Baffert notes about the progeny of horses he once trained. “You just hope they win for their sires. It’s like watching your kids grow up.”

Baffert, who has won the Del Mar Futurity a remarkable 17 times, also has Citizen Bull entered in the race. The son of Into Mischief broke his maiden at first asking on August 17.

“I thought he would need the race,” Baffert concedes. “But he ran well. We think he’s pretty good.”

Expect a wild scramble on the front end. Getaway Car and Gaming wired the fields in their races and breaking from the inside usually means they will be gunning for position on the front end. 

McKinzie Street, a son of McKinzie (another horse Baffert trained), also wired the field when he broke his maiden first out.

“I think he may be a little more versatile,” trainer Tim Yakteen states. “The nice thing is he has a tactical way about him and he does have a good mind.”

R Heisman, winner of the Graduation Stakes for Cal-breds last month, was scratched out of Friday’s I’m Smokin to run in the Futurity. Trainer Peter Miller saying they want to see where he stacks up against the others in his class. Miller has also entered Brother Tony.

Rank has the distinction of running against both Getaway Car and Gaming and he’ll take another crack at them Sunday. The son of Honor A.P. ran fourth, 7 ¼ lengths behind Getaway Car in his debut, then was the best of the rest when he ran a distant second to Gaming last month.

“We believe in him a lot that’s why he’s in there,” says Leondro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill. “He gave us a good second the last time.”

Rank comes into the Futurity as a maiden.

The 77th running of the G1 Del Mar Futurity will go off as the 10th race on the 11-race card on closing day. Probable post is 6 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds:

1. Getaway Car (Juan Hernandez, 6/5)
2. Gaming (Flavien Prat, 7/2)
3. R Heisman (Umberto Rispoli, 20-1)
4. Brother Tony (Reylu Gutierrez, 10-1)
5. Rank (Antonio Fresu, 15-1)
6. McKinzie Street (Kazushi Kimura, 4-1)
7. Citizen Bull (Mike Smith, 9/2)