San Clemente Preview: Is There Any Stopping Going Global?

DEL MAR, CA – Trainer Phil D’Amato’s Going Global, perfect in 4 starts at Santa Anita Park, is out to prove that she can’t be stopped no matter the venue in Saturday’s $200,000 San Clemente Stakes (G2) at Del Mar.

The San Clemente is a 1-mile turf route restricted to 3-year-old fillies. This year’s edition is the penultimate event on an 11-race card and has a local post time of 6:30 PM.

Here’s a look at the full field for the San Clemente:

1. Pizzazz 12/1 – She returns from a 2-month break to a track and distance over which she broke her maiden last November and nearly won the Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3) next time out. She most recently set the pace before fading to fifth in the 1 1/8-mile Honeymoon Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. Kyle Frey, aboard in her California Oaks victory at Golden Gate Fields 2 starts back, rides again.

2. Going Global 4/5 – The Irish-bred has done nothing wrong since arriving in American last winter, winning her 4 starts – all stakes – at distances of 6 furlongs, 1 mile, and 1 1/8 miles. The meet’s defending top jockey Flavien Prat retains the mount yet again and will attempt to build upon his own hot streak: he won 5 of 18 mounts on opening weekend, the most of any jockey in the colony.

3. Founder’s Day 30/1 – She stretches out to try routing for the first time after finishing a flat seventh in a local 5-furlong optional claiming sprint. That marked her first start since transferring to trainer Bob Hess Jr., who succeeds at 15% with a $3.02 ROI when sending his runners from one to two turns, and all offspring of Constitution have won 16% of their turf routes.

4. Freedom Flyer 30/1 – She posted a win and a pair of runner-up efforts (by a nose and a head) in 3 starts since trainer Simon Callaghan first sent her around two turns, including defeating Santa Anita Park optional claimers at this distance last time out. In 2 prior stakes attempts, she finished eighth in February’s 6-furlong Sweet Life (G3) and was a head behind in the 1 1/16-mile California Oaks.

5. Tetragonal 8/1 – She steps back up to the stakes ranks after defeating Santa Anita Park optional claimers going 1 mile, earning the Irish-bred her first stateside victory in 4 starts. Trainer Richard Baltas, who saddled the winner of this in 2016 and 2017, won 2 of his 5 shared mounts with Joe Bravo last weekend including the Osunitas Stakes, but she’s yet to string together back-to-back solid efforts.

6. Equilove 20/1 – D’Amato’s second entry stretches out to try routing for the first time since the Irish-bred came to California over the winter; she finished second and third in a pair of overseas tries at 1 mile. She took advantage of paceless optional claimers to win gate to wire going 6 furlongs at Santa Anita Park last time out, but she’s shown to be more of a close stalking type when going longer.

7. Jibber Jabber 15/1 – Trainer Patty Gallagher’s Irish-bred hit the board in 3 starts – all 1-mile routes – since arriving stateside after posting a 3-0-2-0 mark in France and Great Britain. She broke her maiden in her second American try and improved her Beyer Speed Figures with each effort. As shown in her lone victory, her turn of foot would benefit greatly from having a hot early pace to chase.

8. Dramatizer 30/1 – The second runner from Hess Jr. makes her California racing debut after getting claimed for $50k out of a last-to-first victory going 1 mile on the Churchill Downs lawn. That effort only netted her a career-high 73 Beyer, however, which places her in the bottom half of this field, and while Hess Jr. wins 13% first off the claim, he’s also won just 2 of his past 51 graded stakes starts.

9. Madone 4/1 – Callaghan’s second entry kicked off her career winning 3 straight, including the first 2 at this course and distance, to earn her spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), where she finished eighth. She returned 6 months later to win the Senorita Stakes (G3) going 1 mile at Santa Anita Park but perhaps found the Honeymoon too long, as she finished sixth.

10. Karakatsie 10/1 – She ships away from Gulfstream Park for the first time after compiling a 5-1-2-1 record for trainer Armando De La Cerda. She’s primed to peak in her third start off the layoff after earning back-to-back 81 Beyers for runner-up efforts in the 1 1/16-mile Honey Ryder Stakes and the 1-mile Martha Washington Stakes. Expect new jockey Kent Desormeaux to keep her close early.

11. Nimbostratus 12/1 – She makes her first start for new trainer Leonard Powell after she was claimed for a whopping $150k out of a 6-furlong turf event at Santa Anita Park. While she owns a 6-3-1-2 sprint record, her mark routing is 4-0-1-0 (though she was second in last September’s Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Stakes). Powell is 0 for his past 28 attempts with turf horses going sprint to route.

12. Closing Remarks 6/1 – The Harris Farms homebred will reportedly scratch in favor of Friday’s Fleet Treat Stakes going 7 furlongs on dirt. She broke her maiden on debut going a local 5 furlongs against California-breds last August and broke through for her first stakes success in the California Cup Oaks against her own kind at Santa Anita Park. She rallied from last to finish third (placed second via disqualification) in the Senorita despite clipping heels and stumbling at the start.