DEL MAR \u2014 There will come a day when Gold Phoenix doesn\u2019t win the Del Mar Handicap.<\/p>\n
No, really.<\/p>\n
But that day was not Saturday, just like it wasn\u2019t on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend last year \u2026 or in 2023 \u2026 or in 2022.<\/p>\n
For the first time in the 10 decades they\u2019ve been racing at Del Mar, a horse won the same stakes race four consecutive years. Four others had won three but did not try for a four-peat.<\/p>\n
Gold Phoenix did \u2014 and he was fully extended, but he outfinished Stay Hot, Atitlan and Truly Quality in a four-horse photo at the end of the 13\/8-mile race. He returned $6.20 as the 2-1 favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible,\u201d trainer Phil D\u2019Amato said in the winner\u2019s circle. \u201cThis is what you\u2019re in the business for: to have moments like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Irish-bred gelding, now 7, was ridden by Flavien Prat, who also was aboard for the initial victory in 2022. Prat, who came here Saturday from New York to ride Nysos in the Pacific Classic, didn\u2019t get to fulfill that commitment when the colt was scratched, but he did win three races.<\/p>\n
The $300,000 Del Mar Handicap came with a $180,000 first prize \u2014 old hat for Gold Phoenix, who has now earned more than $2 million \u2014 and also a berth in the $5 million Breeders\u2019 Cup Turf here Nov. 1. Gold Phoenix has finished 10th, fourth and fourth in that race the last three years, but that\u2019s one streak he\u2019ll try to end.<\/p>\n
As for whether he\u2019ll be back to try to defend his four titles again next year, D\u2019Amato said simply, \u201cI sure hope so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another four-peat?<\/p>\n
In addition to a possible five-peat by Gold Phoenix, D\u2019Amato might be able to go for another four-peat next year with Motorious, who won the $150,000 Green Flash Handicap for the third straight year.<\/p>\n
Another 7-year-old gelding, Motorious actually finished second by a nose behind 18-1 long shot Reef Runner, but the latter gelding was disqualified by the stewards for interfering with Motorious shortly after the start of the 5-furlong turf race.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that had not happened at the start he would have won by two (lengths),\u201d winning jockey Antonio Fresu said of the 9-5 favorite, who returned $5.60.<\/p>\n
Motorious, who is 4-for-5 on the Del Mar turf with the only loss coming by a neck in last year\u2019s Breeders\u2019 Cup Turf Sprint, earned an automatic spot in that Nov. 1 race.<\/p>\n
Formidable, indeed<\/p>\n
Another horse thrilled with Del Mar hosting the Breeders\u2019 Cup is Formidable Man. The 4-year-old made it six wins in six starts on the turf course here with a 1\u00bd-length victory in the $300,000 Del Mar Mile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seems to like it here,\u201d said winning trainer Michael McCarthy in the understatement of the summer.<\/p>\n
McCarthy, who also trained Formidable Man\u2019s sire, 2018 Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light, will decide in the coming weeks whether the colt starts again before the Breeders\u2019 Cup Mile. The competition will be stiffer, but<\/p>\n
Formidable Man has met every test so far on the Del Mar grass.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a different kick here than Santa Anita,\u201d winning jockey Umberto Rispoli said.<\/p>\n
Formidable Man, who paid $4.80 as the 7-5 favorite, became a millionaire with the win, pushing his career earnings over the $1.16 million mark. Almendares edged pacesetter Cabo Spirit for second.<\/p>\n
Cal-bred score<\/p>\n
Om N Joy, who had built a nice r\u00e9sum\u00e9 racing almost exclusively against fellow Cal-bred fillies, handled a step up in class by winning the $150,000 Torrey Pines Stakes over a field that included Tenma, last year\u2019s Del Mar Debutante champ.<\/p>\n
Ridden by Kent Desormeaux for trainer Aggie Ordonez, Om N Joy ($10) rallied from next to last to win by a half-length over the 26-1 long shot So There She Was. Tenma, the 7-10 favorite, was third.<\/p>\n
In her only other start against open company, Om N Joy finished last in the Oak Leaf Stakes last year at Santa Anita.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 30, 2025 at 11:21 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DEL MAR \u2014 There will come a day when Gold Phoenix doesn\u2019t win the Del Mar Handicap. No,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":188992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,23125,1370,1589,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-188991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-horse-racing","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-phoenix","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115122285012411491","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}