Pulpit Rider Faces Tough 3-Peat Title Defense | 2022 Solana Beach Stakes Preview & FREE Picks

Aaron previews the 2022 Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar, then gives his top picks and longshots. Pulpit Rider goes for her third straight title in this race but faces a tough field for this year’s defense. Will she get the job done yet again? Tell us YOUR thoughts in the Comments section!

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The track press release:

Ten female racehorses, all bred in the Golden State, will match up Sunday at Del Mar in the 29th edition of the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes at a mile on the grass.

The race is part of the Golden State Series, a 36-race sequence limited to horses bred in California (or sired by a California stallion). It offers $4.475 million in purses for races held up and down the state throughout the year. The Solana Beach is the sixth of eight of them conducted at Del Mar.

The morning-line favorite in the distaff test is Reddam Racing’s homebred Eddie’s New Dream, who has been hooking into tough open company of late and will find the going easier against her state-bred rivals. The gray 4-year-old filly by Square Eddie has finished in the top three in 12 of her 16 lifetime starts and once again will be handled by her regular rider, Mario Gutierrez, for trainer Ben Cecil. She could be the speed in this field.

Nick Alexander’s Rose Dawson is another gray, she by the owner’s home stallion Grazen, who is only a 3-year-old but has shown real ability so far in her brief four-race career. She’ll get leading rider Juan Hernandez in the boot for trainer Phil D’Amato and looms a potent force in the turf test.

Yet another in the field who bears watching is Benjamin and Sally Warren’s homebred Warrens Candy Girl, a Clubhouse Ride 4-year-old who fires a good shot just about every time. She’ll have Umberto Rispoli in the tack for trainer Craig Lewis as they come out of Post 2 in the stakes.

One more to consider in the Sunday headliner is Next Wave Racing’s Sassyserb, a 5-year-old mare by the Irish stallion Circumference who can brag of four wins and five seconds in her 20 starts. Joe Bravo will ride the bay for trainer George Papaprodromo.

Here’s the full field for the Solana Beach from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Red Barons Barn or Vaya Con Suerte’s Harper’s Gallop (Hector Berrios, 15-1); Warrens Candy Girl; Barber or Wachtel Stable’s California Kook (Florent Geroux, 15-1); Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams’ Pulpit Rider (Ramon Vazquez, 6-1); Rose Dawson; Devereaux or Gross’ Barrister’s Ride (Ricky Gonzalez, 10-1); Sassyserb; Eddie’s New Dream; Youkhanna or Youkhanna’s Sunshine Babe (Tiago Pereira, 20-1), and Harris Farms’ All Dialed In (Tyler Baze, 10-1).

First post Sunday will be 2 p.m. The Solana Beach is scheduled as the eighth of 10 races with a post time of approximately 5:37 p.m.