Mr Fisk captures Native Diver stakes at Del Mar
Back on Sept. 3, the Bob Baffert-trained tandem of Tahoe Sunrise and Mr Fisk finished in a dead heat for first in the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes on the undercard to the Pacific Classic.
Tahoe Sunrise returned to Del Mar Friday and won a second-level allowance race.
And Mr Fisk Sunday won the Grade III, 1 1/8-mile Native Diver Stakes, scoring a second straight victory under Juan Hernandez, who had four wins on the day to cap an 11-win Thanksgiving weekend.
Mr Fisk finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of 6-5 favorite Skinner, who had an unusual run under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.
Skinner broke slowly, trailed the other six starters by three lengths going into the first turn, rallied down the backstretch, briefly lost contact with the leaders again on the far turn then rallied in the stretch to pass Newgrange — who finished third in this race for a second straight year.
“This horse has finally figured out how to run,” Hernandez said of Mr Fisk ($8.40). “He put himself outside in the clear and was travelling really good, very relaxed. He is very professional. I love this horse today because he loved the distance. It looked like he owned the distance.”
“Mr Fisk has really improved since this summer,” Baffert said of Mr Fisk, who shipped into Del Mar Sunday morning. “He’s a horse we knew would be late in coming around. He’s changed so much since August.
“I was a little bit worried about the slow pace. But Juan realized they were going too slow and made his move. Mr Fisk is still a little green learning how to run. But he has a bright future.”
Sunday was another big day for jockey leader Hernandez and training leader Phil D’Amato, who teamed in two wins with Phenom ($3.80) in the third and Lakota Spirit ($5.20) in the seventh.
Hernandez also scored wins with Lambeau ($11.60) in the second and Mr Fisk, extending his jockey lead over Flavien Prat to 19-12. Prat scored two wins Sunday — Kopion ($2.60) in the first and Devil Moon ($4.00) in the sixth — after a three-day trip to Kentucky.
D’Amato scored a third win in the finale with One of These Days (Geovanni Franco, $25.40).
Favorites won five of the nine races with even-money or odds-on favorites scoring four wins in as many starts.
Other Sunday winners — Fourth race: California Tiger (Hector Berrios, $3.00) a;nd fifth race: Cane Creek Road (Antonio Fresu, $8.80).
Kopion won his debut in the day’s opener. The 2-year-old son of Omaha Beach was a $270,000 purchase as a yearling for trainer Richard Mandella.
Racing resumes Friday at 12:30 p.m.
Del Mar’s the fall meeting ends with two graded stakes both next Saturday and Sunday. The final four races of the annual Turf Festival should attract strong entries from the east.
Five of the nine listed probables for Saturday’s Grade I Hollywood Derby are based in the east, including a pair of entries from trainer Chad Brown. Brown also has four of the 11 probables listed for Sunday’s Grade I Matriarch Stakes.
Since 2016, 13 horses shipped by Brown to Del Mar have won races in the Turf Festival.
The 1 1/8-mile Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds has a total of five probables scheduled to ship in from the east. The one-mile Matriarch for older fillies and mares on closing day has six probables who are from the east.
Saturday’s nine-race program will include the $100,000, Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes — a 1-mile turf run for 2-year-old fillies. Sunday’s closing program will include the Grade III Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at one-mile for 2-year-olds on the turf and the ungraded, $100,000 Stormy Liberal Stakes, a five-furlong turf sprint for older horses.
