Del Mar Report #8: The Awards

Horse of the Meet: Beholder – Her win in the Pacific Classic was the best performance of the year other than American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown at Belmont Park.  The victory puts her in contention for the Breeders Cup Classic, and easily locked up older female of the year honors.

Older Male of the Meet: Catch a Flight – Was a big winner of the San Diego Handicap, and since Beholder won the Pacific Classic that win trumps all others this meet.  Has had a really nice campaign this year in California.

Older Female of the Meet: Beholder – Easiest selection of all the awards!  She dominated her own division at the first of the meet, and then dominated the boys in a similar fashion to end the meet.  Might be better than she’s ever been right now.

3 Year Old Male of the Meet: Gimme Da Lute – People seem to overlook this horse because of his stable mate American Pharoah, but Gimme Da Lute made short work of his rivals at Del Mar this meet.  Look for him to continue to run in the smaller stakes and be tough to beat.

3 Year Old Female of the Meet: Stellar Wind – Finally returned to the races at Del Mar and didn’t disappoint; making short work of her rivals in the Torrey Pines Stakes.  The win throws her hat into the ring of the 3 year old filly division.

2 Year Old Male of the Meet: Nyquist – Exits Del Mar as the number one ranked 2 year old in the country as he won a Grade 2 and Grade 1 at the meet, both in dominating fashion.  He looks to still be a little green, which is scary considering how far ahead of his rivals he already looks to be.

2 Year Old Female of the Meet: Songbird – Huge maiden winner, and then beat a highly regarded Baffert filly rather easily in the Del Mar Debutante.  Might be the best two year old filly in training right now, and most definitely the best one on the west coast.

Sprinter of the Meet: Wild Dude – Won the biggest sprint race of the meet, and then came back to run a very good second to Appealing Tale later in the meet.  When he’s on his game he is almost unbeatable, and it seems like he loves Del Mar.

Owner of the Meet: Reddam Racing LLC – Won the owners title, and also is the owner of two very talented two year olds in Nyquist and Ralis.  It’s good to be Reddam Racing these days!

Trainer of the Meet: Jerry Hollendorfer – Ended up winning the trainers title once again as he continues to stay on a tremendous roll in the state of California.  His stable of horses right now are both deep and talented, and they also can fit in several different levels.

Jockey of the Meet: Rafael Bejarano – Dominated the jockey standings like normal.  It’s been hard for anyone in California to unseat this guy as the top dog.

Race of the Meet: The Pacific Classic – Not only the race of the meet, but perhaps one of the best of the entire year as the super mare Beholder dominated the boys.