Del Mar: Forever After All ships in for Red Carpet moment
Photo:
Benoit Photo / Santa Anita
The Del Mar turf festival kicks off Sunday with the Grade 3, $100,000 Red Carpet. A field of eight fillies and mares will compete in the 1 3/8-mile grass event, the first of seven graded stakes to be run through next weekend.
Like most of the turf festival races, there are some out-of-state invaders entered in the Red Carpet. Forever After All arrives at Del Mar from the Brendan Walsh barn off of a near miss in the Dowager (G3) at Keeneland last month.
“She finished second to a really good filly,” Walsh said. “It was a very good run and we weren’t surprised. We were pretty confident she’d run a really good race out there. She did everything but win. Hopefully she can get it together this time and get that stakes win for us.”
This is not the first time Forever After All has come out west. She finished third in the Gamely (G1) at Santa Anita in May.
“We’d like to try to get a graded stakes with her,” Walsh said. “She needs to go long so we thought we’d bring her out there and have a go at that one.”
Marksman Queen is another well-traveled filly from the Graham Motion barn. She doesn’t have the stakes experience that Forever After All boasts but she did run a close second in a second-level allowance race at Keeneland last out, missing by a neck in the 1 1/2-mile turf marathon.
“She’s always been a filly who has shown us more in the morning than in the afternoon,” Motion said. “The key was just trying this. We knew there was more there than we were seeing. She’s kind of bred to do this (go long). That’s why we tried it and I think it shows that’s what she wants to do.”
She’s a well-bred filly packing tons of potential.
“She’s a Dubawi mare,” Motion pointed out, “so if she can get some black type it would be a great opportunity for her. She’s handled everything well, she shipped well and knock on wood.” Dubawi, incidentally, stands in England for a stud fee of approximately US$440,000.
Mrs. Astor is another invader who is from the Jonathan Thomas barn. The East Coast-based trainer has brought a string of horses out to Del Mar this fall. She ran fourth in the Dowager (G3) after finally breaking out on her sixth try at entry level allowance company, winning at Colonial Downs in September.
The local contingent is led by Moment’s Pleasure, winner of the $150,000 Solana Beach at Del Mar this summer. She’s has never finished worse than second in four starts at the seaside oval which always leads one to think she is a horse for the course. Unless you’re her trainer, Craig Lewis.
“I don’t think that’s the case,“ Lewis said. “She just had a couple of rough trips in the last couple at Santa Anita. I believe she’s a nice filly. Obviously, it’s a chance. She doesn’t look as good as some of the other horses in there but sometimes you got to take a shot. She acts like she’ll really like the distance so you never know.”
The Red Carpet, being run for the 59th time, was formerly the Beverly Hills Handicap when it was run at Hollywood Park. It goes as the seventh race on the nine-race Sunday card. Probable post is 6:30 p.m. EST.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Ima Joker Practical Joke |
0.00 |
1st, SA AOC (10/25/2024-R7) |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, SA AOC (10/25/2024-R7) |
|||||
| 2 |
|
Forever After All Connect |
6.19 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Everything Bugs Me Catalina Cruiser |
0.00 |
1st, DMR MSW (10/31/2024-R4) |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, DMR MSW (10/31/2024-R4) |
|||||
| 4 |
|
Moment’s Pleasure Clubhouse Ride |
0.00 |
2nd, DMR AOC (11/09/2024-R7) |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, DMR AOC (11/09/2024-R7) |
|||||
| 5 |
|
Mrs. Astor Lookin At Lucky |
5.84 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Marksman Queen Dubawi |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Mahina Bolt d’Oro |
0.00 |
1st, SA AOC (10/12/2024-R7) |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, SA AOC (10/12/2024-R7) |
|||||
| 8 |
|
Queens Command War Command |
4.45 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
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