Grass Veteran Gold Phoenix Eyes Second Eddie Read Success originally appeared on Paulick Report.

The Eddie Read Stakes, named in honor of Del Mar’s first Director of Publicity, comes up for renewal Sunday and has attracted a solid field of eight grass runners ready to travel a mile and one eighth out of the diagonal track chute on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course at the seaside track near San Diego, Calif.

Advertisement

The $250,000 headliner carries Grade 2 status and will be the featured attraction on an 11-race card.

This will be Eddie Read #52 and the horse who won Eddie Read #50 – Agave Racing Stable and Little Red Feather Racing’s Gold Phoenix – is one of the serious members of this year’s cast. The 7-year-old gelding, a son of the Irish stallion Belardo, will be making his 26th start Sunday, all but one of them on the green.

Besides his Eddie Read tally, he’s also won the last three editions of the Del Mar Handicap, another local long-distance turf test. Kyle Frey will be his pilot for this go-round in the Read. The veteran is trained by Phil D’Amato, a four-time winner of the Read.

Also in the Read – and the morning line favorite in the test – is Mr.-Mrs. W.K. Warren Jr.’s Formidable Man, a 4-year-old City of Light colt who won both the Del Mar Derby and the Hollywood Derby on the lawn at the shore last year. The bay races out of the barn of conditioner Mike McCarthy and has a Grade 1 triumph in the Kilroe Stakes at Santa Anita already this year. He’ll be handled by regular rider Umberto Rispoli Sunday.

Advertisement

Here’s the full field for the Read from the rail out with riders and morning line odds: Red Barons Ban or Rancho Temescala’s Dicey Mo Chara (Juan Hernandez, 12-1); Little Red Feather Racing and Madaket Stable’s Balnikhov (Kazushi Kimura, 10-1); John M B O’Connor’s Atitlan (Hector I. Berrios, 4-1); Formidable Man (5/2); Gold Phoenix (3-1); Exline-Border Racing and Burns Racing’s Stay Hot (Antonio Fresu, 6-1); Kretz Racing’s Cabo Spirit (Mike Smith, 5-1), and Nguyen or Tran’s Balladeer (Amir Cedillo, 20-1).

The Eddie Read is Race 9 on the program with a likely post time of 6 p.m. PT. First post Sunday is 2 p.m.

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 26, 2025, where it first appeared.