DEL MAR DERBY | PURSE: $300,000 | 3-YEAR-OLDS | GRADE 2 | 1 1/8-MILES (TURF)
Unheralded as the 17-1 second longest shot on the board, Dye and Venneri Racing's homebred Midnight Storm quickly made an impression with a 3 1/4-length wire job in his stakes debut in Sunday's Grade 2, $300,750 Del Mar Derby. The expected clash between 8-5 favorite Enterprising and 2-1 second choice never materialized, as neither landed a blow from off the pace.
Midnight Storm was crowning a Sunday graded stakes double at Del Mar for his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, who was earlier represented by Jojo Warrior in the Torrey Pines. Jojo Warrior likewise led throughout in her Grade 3 victory on the Polytrack. While she was the established class of her field, and accordingly dispatched as the even-money favorite, Midnight Storm had something to prove off a hard-fought score in an entry-level allowance here on August 10. That marked his first start since joining Phil D'Amato, and his first on turf, and he made it two in a row to upset the meet's signature race for sophomores.
Sent straight to the front by new rider Tyler Baze's design, Midnight Storm easily dictated splits of :24 1/5 and :48 3/5 on the firm turf. His nearest pursuer, Sawyer's Hill, wasn't close enough to apply pressure, and the pacesetter was enjoying an uncontested lead. The top two began to separate themselves from the rest of the field through six furlongs in 1:12 2/5. Flamboyant, who had been in midpack early, soon dropped back. Enterprising, the winner of the Oceanside and La Jolla, was confidently handled in last. As he was asked to pick it up on the far turn, his chances of sweeping Del Mar's three-year-old turf series were decreasing.
Midnight Storm was not only still motoring -- he was actually pulling away from his erstwhile shadow Sawyer's Hill. When Midnight Storm threw in a :23 fourth quarter to reach the mile in 1:35 2/5, Sawyer's Hill could not keep up. The front runner went on to finish 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 2/5 and sparked a $36.60 win payout to his backers.
"We weren't going that slow up there; we were just comfortable," Baze said. "I knew this horse was ready. I worked him the other day five eighths (in 1:00 2/5 on August 24) and then had a strong mile gallop-out. Phil trains them just like Mike (former trainer Mike Mitchell, who was D'Amato's mentor) used to. Sure was nice to go uncontested out there. No pressure helps. This is the first time I've won this race. Del Mar has been good to me."
"I was very confident because I've never had a horse train for a race like this before," D'Amato said. "The last race didn't take anything out of him. Tyler (Baze) breezed him and he galloped out a mile in 1:39 and change and only really good horses do that on this racetrack. He gave me every indication he was going to give his best."
Sawyer's Hill barely salvaged second by a head from the flying French import Talco. Sammy Mandeville, Home Run Kitten, Enterprising, Aventador and Flamboyant rounded out the order under the wire.
Jockey Corey Nakatani was delighted with Talco's third in his U.S. debut.
"Dynamite race for him," Nakatani enthused. "To close into those slow fractions -- a terrific effort. John (trainer John Sadler) said he knew this horse was full of class and that he thought this distance was going to be too short for him. But he said let's give him a try and see what we've got. I think they can see they've got a really nice horse here."
Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith commented that the pace scenario was all against Enterprising.
"Absolutely no pace. Nothing to run at," Smith said. "You have to make a decision with this horse right out of the gate. If you ask him to go, he'll go. But I was concerned about the extra distance and I thought there'd be more pace. Just didn't happen."
Midnight Storm, a May 9 foal, was unraced as a juvenile. The dark bay began his career on Santa Anita's dirt this spring. Under the tutelage of Jorge Gutierrez, he placed second in a pair of sprints, and tired to fourth at a mile, before breaking through in a seven-furlong maiden on June 14. Midnight Storm made an inauspicious first appearance at Del Mar in a 6 1/2-furlong entry-level allowance on Polytrack July 23, where he weakened to eighth. He was subsequently transferred to D'Amato, who put him on turf, and the response was immediate. Now two-for-two on turf and for his new barn, he sports an overall mark of 7-3-2-0, $285,810.
Bred in Kentucky by his owners, Alex Venneri and Marjorie Post Dye, Midnight Storm RNA'd for $38,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. He is out of the Bertrando mare My Tina, herself a half-sister to Grade 3-placed stakes victress Ask Shananie and stakes scorer Valid Direction. This is also the family of multiple Japanese stakes winner Wish Dream, who placed in the 1993 Tenno Sho Autumn.