By Drf.com
DEL MAR, Calif. – Two fillies from opposite sides of the country and with opposite styles of running share the same objective Friday at Del Mar – win the $150,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for Golden State Series-eligible 3-year-old fillies bred in California.
They will not get in each other’s way. Om N Joy is a West Coast late-runner shortening to seven furlongs after a come-from-behind win in a stakes route at Santa Anita. Drink This Cup is an East Coast front-runner stretching out after she wired a fast allowance sprint at Delaware Park.
Neither Om N Joy nor Drink This Cup is a cinch in the 12-runner Fleet Treat, nor was neither supposed to be this good this soon for these connections. Trainer Aggie Ordonez recalls the first time she saw Om N Joy at the track. “She stepped off the van – this great, big, gangly filly – and I said, ‘I don’t know if we’ll get her to the races as a 2-year-old, but she’ll be a force when she’s 3, 4, 5.’ And I still believe that.”
Om N Joy raced six times at 2, and lost her first seven starts, before the light bulb went on and she went on a tear. Om N Joy, the first stakes winner sired by Om, has won three straight races, including two California-bred stakes for owner-breeders Jerry and Connie Baker. Michael Golovko and Terry Scanlan are co-owners.
Ordonez said Om N Joy is nearly 17 hands. “She’s long-legged, and long-bodied, and every time I look at her, she’s better looking,” Ordonez said. “She has physically filled out and grown. She’s a huge filly, and she’s slowly gotten better.”
The challenge facing Om N Joy on Friday is her closing style. Om N Joy produced no speed in either recent start. Ordonez worked her a sharp half-mile last week, her 47.80-second drill was the fastest of her career. “Now that I’m turning her back, I’m saying, ‘Girl, you’ve got to wake up a little bit,’ ” Ordonez said. “We sharpened her claws a little bit for this [race].”
Om N Joy is jockey Kent Desormeaux’s first mount of the meet, in a race that could set up for her closing style. Front-runners include Drink This Cup, trained by Michael Stidham. The filly is owned by the Battle Born Racing partnership headed by Nick Hines, and William Branch.
Hines was bidding on the unraced Drink This Cup last spring at a 2-year-old sale, but he stopped at $14,000. The winning bid was $15,000. Hines felt instant regret he did not go higher. Hines contacted the winning bidder, struck a deal, and took ownership of the Stay Thirsty filly.
Drink This Cup is “Virginia-certified,” which means she was stabled in Virginia for at least six months and therefore eligible for restricted races in Virginia, including lucrative stakes at Colonial Downs. That is why a California-bred ended up in the East.
After a runaway debut victory last fall at Delaware, Drink This Cup had a setback that needed time. Her spring comeback was a seventh-place debacle. “There was a bunch of speed in the race, and my rider tried to rate her and get her back off the speed, and she resented it,” trainer Michael Stidham said. “And on the sloppy track, she didn’t run at all under those conditions.”
But next out, from the outside post, Drink This Cup used her speed. She popped the gate and was gone at six furlongs. New jockey Juan Hernandez will employ similar tactics Friday.
“We’ll have the same [plan] for this race,” Stidham said. “I know we’re going seven-eighths of a mile, which will be a little farther, but she’s quick away from there. We’ll let her break running and then see.”
Drink This Cup arrived at Del Mar on July 16. Jockey Juan Hernandez, who will be aboard Friday, worked her a smooth half-mile July 19. To win the Fleet Treat, Drink This Cup must put away pace rivals Hurricane Layla and Fibonaccis Ride.
In the 10 years since Del Mar reinstalled dirt, the Fleet Treat has run to form – four winners were favored, four were second betting choice.
Ellen Jorth switches to dirt after winning her debut and finishing third in an allowance. Trainer Phil D’Amato is less concerned about footing, more with distance. “She’s trained well on dirt,” he said. “I do think at the end of the day she really wants to run two turns. Win, lose, or draw, after [Friday] I’ll stretch her out.”
Antonio Fresu rides Ellen Jorth.
The field includes Del Mar stakes winner In the Air Tonight, route-to-sprint upset candidate Lady Mendelssohn, Going Deep, Cooling Off, Young Love, Hot Girl Walk, and Sunset Grazen.
Going Deep is by Bodexpress, out of the Indian Charlie mare Quick Wampum, was bred by Richard Barton Enterprises and Robert Traynor, is owned by Cady or Leatherman and trained by Doug O’Neill. She has two wins in eight starts, earnings of $128,400 and is coming off a second in the May 24 Melair Stakes.
Hurricane Layla is by I’ll Have Another, out of the War Front mare Epistemology, was bred by Reddam Racing and is owned by trainer Antonio Garcia. She has one win in three starts, earnings of $45,180 and is coming off a third in a July 6 optional claimer.
Om N Joy is by Om, out of the Hard Spun mare Margie’s Minute,
was bred by Jerry and Connie Baker, is owned by Baker, Golovco or Scanlan, et al, and trained by Aggie Ordonez. She has three wins in 10 starts, earnings of $225,640 and is coming off a win in the May 24 Melair.
Cooling Off is by Conquest Fahrenheit, out of the Gilded Time mare Third Time Lucky, was bred by Harris Farms, is owned by David Garcia and trained by Jose Valdez. She has one win in two starts, earnings of $9,500 and is coming off a May 30 maiden claiming win.
Drink This Cup is by Stay Thirsty, out of the Flower Alley mare Black Bird Rock, was bred by Terry Lovingier, is owned by Battle Born Racing Stable or Branch and trained by Michael Stidham. The $6,000 purchase at the Northern California Yearling Sale Lovacres consignment has two wins in three starts, earnings of $52,100 and is coming off a June 11 optional claiming win at Delaware Park.
Young Love is by Grazen, out of the Diabolical mare That’s the Idea, was bred by owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison and trained by Peter Miller. She has one win in two starts, earnings of $36,500 and is coming off a June 15 maiden win.
Lady Mendelssohn is by Mendelssohn, out of the Bandini mare Ringmistress, was bred by Richard Barton Enterprises, is owned by Out of the Blue Stables and trained by Carla Gaines. She has one win in four starts, earnings of $59,540 and is coming off a third in the May 24 Melair.
Stakes winner In the Air Tonight is by Stay Thirsty, out of the Sky Mesa mare Angel Allie, was bred by Terry Lovingier, is owned by Chacon, Flores and Lovingier and is trained by Steve Knapp. She has two wins in 12 starts, earnings of $185,184 and is coming off a third in a June 21 optional claimer.
Stakes winner Hot Girl Walk is by Bodexpress, out of the Awesome Again mare Awesome Mama, was bred by Richard Barton Enterprises, is owned by Richard Barton and trained by Carla Gaines. She has two wins in nine starts, earnings of $134,500 and is coming off a seventh in a June 29 optional claimer.
Fibonaccis Ride is by Clubhouse Ride, out of the Wildcat Heir mare Wild Caroline, was bred by James Shenouda, is owned by Zephyr Racing and trained by Antonio Garcia. She has one win in four starts, earnings of $44,200 and is coming off an eighth in a June 22 optional claimer.
Ellen Jorth is by Grazen, out of the Exchange Rate mare Carpathia, was bred by owner Nick Alexander and is trained by Phil D’Amaro. She has one win in two starts, earnings of $43,320 and is coming off a third in a June 13 optional claimer.
Sunset Grazen is by Grazen, out of the Slew’s Tiznow mare Sausalito Sunset, was bred by Legacy Ranch, is owned by Paula Henline and Tracy Henline and is trained by Blaine Wright. She has two wins in nine starts, earnings of $118,740 and is coming off a sixth in the May 24 Melair.