Del Mar Preview | Betty Grable Stakes 2023: Chancery Way Favored In Sunday Feature

Del Mar continues the opening weekend of its 10th fall racing season Sunday with the highlight event being the 28th edition of the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes, a seven-panel spin for fillies and mares born or sired in the Califfornia.

The Betty Grable will go off at approximately 4 p.m. Sunday as Race 8 of 9.

The 5/2 favorite for the dash is the quick filly Chancery Way, a 4-year-old daughter of Mr. Big owned by Smolich and Smolich and trained by Jamey Thomas.

The bay has won five of her 10 starts, usually on the front end. Antonio Fresu will be aboard the speedster for the first time.

Her chief threat appears to be Nick Alexander’s homebred Rose Dawson, a grey 4-year-old by the owner’s home stallion Grazen. She’s been hung the second choice in the field at 3-1.

Phil D’Amato is the conditioner of the three-time winner and he’s gotten top rider Juan Hernandez to sign on again for the Sunday special.

Here’s the full field for the race in post position order with riders and morning line odds:

1. Chancery Way
2. Out of the Blue Stables’ Bella D, Geovanni Franco (15-1)
3. Harris Farms’ Glorious Spring, Flavien Prat (8-1)
4. Jay Em Ess Stable’s Power Surge, Tiago Periera (8-1)
5. Tessar or Bach’s Smoothlikebuttah, Umberto Rispoli (8-1)
6. Jaime Renella’s Chismosa, Edgar Payeras (5-1)
7. Nick Alexander’s Carmen Miranda, Ramon Vazquez (4-1)
8. Rose Dawson

The race is part of the Golden State Stakes Series overseen by the CTBA which consists of 39 events run at tracks up and down the state worth a total of $4.85 million. Del Mar hosts 10 of the races – eight in the summer and two in the fall – worth $1,325,000.