Frankly Speaking - Del Mar July 22, 2023

by Frank Scatoni

Del Mar Magic

Yesterday I wrote about how the start of Del Mar was like Christmas in July. Well, a Christmas miracle happened on Opening Day. Me and my buddy Ciaran Thornton, who is actually doing the Sunday “Best Bet” seminar with me this week, own a box together. Strangely enough, neither one of us could use it on Opening Day. He and his wife, Shannon, were part of the Little Red Feather posse, while I had to hide away in the press box and get some work done. My girlfriend, Terri, loves the Turf Club, and she spent the whole day there with her fancy friends, so not one of us could use the box on Opening Day. Weird, right?

Well, it turns out that Terri knew someone who could use the box—and not only were they very appreciative of the fact that they finally had access to a sold-out Del Mar Opening Day, but they also got to watch their own horse compete. Yes, in Race 4, a $20K/N3L contested at 6-furlongs on the main track, Evonne and Robert (Bob) Turner were the proud owners of #10 Mongolian Legend (12/1), a 7-year-old gelding trained by Jerry Wallace.

If you listened to my podcast with Pete covering Opening Day, I said that over the years, the outside tracking trip was typically the winning one—and oftentimes, I like to handicap a dirt-sprint race from the outside/in. Such was the case with this race. I handicapped it, starting with the #11 horse, Heir (FR), and then worked my way to the rail. I wanted so badly to like a horse drawn on the outside, because I wanted to take advantage of a potential bias, but I couldn’t come up with a horse, so I decided to pass the race. Big mistake!

The gates opened and Abel Cedillo had Mongolian Legend in the perfect tracking spot, just outside of and a few lengths off a couple of aggressive horses. He was in the clear and cruising around the turn. As they entered the lane, I could tell the speed horses were starting to get tired, but Mongolian Legend loomed boldly while racing three wide. He dug in as he leveled out, and he ended up winning the race at 17/1 and paying $37.80.

Wow! I was thrilled. I wasn’t smart enough to bet the horse, but I was so happy for the Turners. I ran down to the winner’s circle to congratulate them, and Evonne was crying tears of joy. Evonne and Bob own a ranch in East County, and they use that space (The Windsor Equestrian Center) to rescue horses and rehabilitate them. I’ve seen some before and after pictures of horses they’ve saved from the slaughterhouse, and what they are doing is incredible.

In fact, when they claimed Mongolian Legend back on April 2, 2022, they only got two races out of him before something went wrong. In his second start for the Turners, he finished fifth in a $12.5K claimer, and someone tried to buy him—but the vet voided the claim. Mongolian Legend went back to the Turners’ barn, and over the next year-plus, the Turners laid him up and babied him, making him happy and healthy again. They were patient and gave him enough time to finally get back to the races.

On June 4, 2023, Mongolian Legend came off such a long layoff and ran a really good second in a 6.5-furlong sprint at Los Al as a waiver-claim. It was a useful prep race for his next race. Trainer Jerry Wallace had enough confidence in the horse to stretch him out and run him for $20K. The rest is history.

When Terri and I handed Evonne the tickets on Thursday night, she was pretty upset about one of her horses, who was suffering from some kind of mystery ailment. She was caring for him in the best possible way, but the poor horse wasn’t making much progress. A distracting day at the races was exactly what Evonne needed. The pure joy in her and Bob’s face when they were walking toward the Champagne Room was something I’ll never forget.

Winning a race at Del Mar is something incredibly special…and pretty rare—so when it happens, you must savor every moment of it. As I turned away to walk back up to the press box, I couldn’t help but think that maybe—just maybe—our box (28H/Thornton-Scatoni) was a lucky one.

To find out more about The Windsor Equestrian Center, please visit: Windsor Equestrian Center.

Hat Trick for O’Neill

Trainer Doug O’Neill got off to a hot start, winning three races on Opening Day. He won the lid lifter with Settecento (Mike Smith; $16.80); he then won Race 6 with Ambivalent (Gutierrez; $8.20); and then he came right back in Race 7, finding the winner’s circle with Two Rivers Over (Bravo; $23.60). O’Neill has always been very streaky, so pay extra attention to his runners over the next two days.