Laurie

Ashley

1. Getaway Car
(6-5)

Getaway Car lived up to his name in the Best Pal Stakes,
zooming to the lead and coating to a 5 1/2 length victory over three
over-matched rivals, completing six furlongs in 1:10.73 and a 12.96 final
furlong without being asked. He stayed in his lane and was professional
throughout. Previously, Getaway Car smashed rivals by 3 1/4 lengths in his
debut. The Bob Baffert trainee earned a 96 Brisnet rating, the best in the
Del Mar Futurity field. Getaway Car breezed a pre-race 5-furlong move in
59.6 seconds, working solo; the good-looking colt was professional down the lane,
with excellent leg extension, and hustled past the wire for an additional
furlong. A $700,000 Keeneland September yearling, this son of Curlin is
the first foal out of 2017 Landaluce Stakes victress Surrender Now, who also
placed in two turf sprints. Surrender Now’s half-brother Red Flag won the Bob
Hope (G3) and later placed as a turf miler. Getaway Car’s fifth dam is the
superior mare Glowing Tribute, dam of 1993 Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero. Getaway Car should enjoy seven furlongs and is the one to
beat. Contender.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Getaway Car is perfect in two
starts, including a 5 1/2-length romp in the Best Pal. This colt debuted
on July 20 in a five-furlong, $75,000 maiden event. None of the five rivals he
faced that day have won a race, but a trio of them have finished second in
their next starts. He only faced three in the Best Pal, with two being maiden
winners and the third being the winner of the $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile
Stakes. The colt earned an 89 Equibase speed figure for his debut and a field-best
99 in the Best Pal. Both of Getaway Car’s prior starts were here at Del
Mar, giving him extra brownie points entering this race. Regular jockey J.J.
Hernandez retains the mount. Contender.

2. Gaming (7-2)

On the same day his stablemate Getaway Car won the Best
Pal Stakes, Gaming graduated at first asking against a field of eight rivals,
including Del Mar Futurity entrants Rank and Brother Tony. Despite bumping at
the start, Gaming won the early scramble for the early lead against four
hopefuls, zipping his first quarter in 21.87 seconds and the half in 44.71 seconds. Despite
not switching leads until late, he found more in the stretch and opened up by
5 1/2 lengths over closers Ranks and Brother Tony. Other than the tardy lead
switch, the Bob Baffert trainee was professional, completed 6 1/2 furlongs in
1:17.42, and earned a 90 Brisnet rating. Gaming returned with two 5-furlong
moves, both in 1:00.2. He tuned up for the Del Mar Futurity on September 1
in company with Citizen Bull. Traveling outside his smaller rival, Gaming
stayed between a half-length to a neck behind Citizen Bull the entire work.
Gaming lost focus slightly in the stretch while figuring out how to switch
leads and was nudged past the wire to stay with Citizen Bull on the gallop
out. The 2018 Del Mar Futurity winner and 2-year-old champion Game Winner is currently ranked 17th on the first-crop sire list. Gaming’s dam is the stakes-placed
turf sprinter So Stylish. Her half-brother, One Cool Cat, is an Irish
multiple Group 1 turf sprinter. Gaming is talented but green. His pedigree
and conformation indicate a mile to middle distances will suit him better
than sprints. Exotics.

Also trained by Bob Baffert, Gaming debuted a winner here
at Del Mar in a 6 1/2-furlong, $75,000 maiden event. Gaming was an easy 5 1/2-length winner over eight rivals, including fellow Futurity entrants Rank
and Brother Tony. He earned a solid 94 Equibase speed figure for the effort.
Flavien Prat takes over from J.J. Hernandez, who sticks with Getaway Car. Contender.

3. R Heisman (20-1)

With four starts under his girth and three against
state-breds, R Heisman is the most experienced in the field. He’s had trouble
in three of four starts but has hit the board in each start despite this. He captured
last month’s Graduation Stakes by 1/2 length over this track despite being
bumped and steadied briefly among horses. The Peter Miller trainee paddles
with his right foreleg and drifted out in the stretch of the Graduation
Stakes from the right-handed whip. He completed 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.08. R Heisman’s Brisnet ratings are inconsistent, but he
received an 89 rating for his Graduation Stakes effort. On August 18, the
colt breezed 4 furlongs while McKinzie Street was breezing 5 furlongs. R
Heisman rated about 5 lengths back, then made a sustained wide move around
the turn. He picked off  McKenzie
Street without urging and completed the distance in 49.40 with twitching
ears. McKinzie Street was lightly urged past the wire but never caught up. As
a note, the colts race for different connections and weren’t breezing
together. R Heisman’s sire, Withers (G3) winner Far From Over (by
Blame), is the first stakes winner in his immediate family. His dam’s
half-brother, Ohio, is a Grade 1-winning turf miler, and two of her
half-brothers are Group 1 winners in Argentina. R Heisman is comfortable
racing in close quarters and can target and pass horses, which is an
advantage against less experienced foes who won while setting the pace. Exotics.

Trained by Peter Miller, R Heisman is the most
experienced runner in the field with four starts already under his girth.
He’s gone 4: 2-2-0 while primarily racing in California-bred company. R
Heisman was 2nd on debut and only one other rival from that field has made it
to the winner’s circle. Likewise, none from his second start, which he won,
have subsequently become winners. R Heisman then went on to finish second by a
length in the $75,000 Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton and 1st in the
$100,000 Graduation Stakes here at Del Mar. Only his race at Pleasanton was
contested in open company. J.J. Hernandez was up for this colt’s previous
three starts but will be replaced by Umberto Rispoli. Pass.

4. Brother Tony
(10-1)

Brother Tony was all over the place in his debut against
Gaming and Rank. At the start, he broke inward, bumping with Gaming. This
freaked Brother Tony out, and he ducked towards the rail while being steadied.
It’s a credit to Reylu Gutierrez’s athleticism that he stayed on. After
getting sorted out, Brother Tony ducked six-wide to the outside and continued
drifting until he was nine wide. Gutierrez’s saved
ground around the first turn while they played catch up, some nine lengths
behind Gaming. Brother Tony gradually gained ground to finish third, passing
tired horses while drifting out under a left-handed whip. Oh, and he paddles
with his right foreleg, too. The Peter Miller trainee earned an 80 Brisnet
rating for his efforts. Brother Tony recorded three post-race works,
including a 5-furlong gate drill in 1:00.40. However, a breeze video wasn’t
available. Brother Tony is by Candy Ride son Unified, a multiple
graded-stakes winner up to 1 1/8 miles. Class skips to the third generation of Brother
Tony’s distaff line and is filled with multiple Group winning turf routers
and multiple Group 1 winning turf miler Ventura, who beat the boys in the
2009 Woodbine Mile (G1). The Del Mar Futurity is an ambitious place for a
horse that couldn’t run straight. Pass.

Also hailing from the Peter Miller barn, Brother Tony was
3rd on debut, finishing behind Gaming and Rank in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden event.
He has not made a subsequent start as his debut came on August 11. Brother
Tony was very green at the start of the race. He broke slowly, ran with his
head high up in the air at first and ducked to the inside. He raced well off
the pace but put in a good, steady move to improve from eighth to third while
never being a threat to the winner. Miller will try blinkers on Brother Tony
for this race, but he’s winless with a 14 percent in the money rate with first-time
blinkers and three percent with a 28 percent in-the-money clip with blinkers on. I like that
Brother Tony was able to settle in after the poor start and give a
workman-like effort afterwards. Reylu Gutierrez retains the mount. Use
underneath.

5. Rank (15-1)

Poor Rank hasn’t been able to catch a break from the
Baffert horses. In his debut, he closed for a distant fourth place, 7 1/4
lengths behind the spectacular Getaway Car. Then Rank faced Gaming. Despite
altering course in the stretch, he fared better, closing for a best-of-the-rest
second, 5 1/2 lengths behind Gaming. The Doug O’Neil trainee’s Brisnet rating
improved 8 points in his second start. Rank’s sire is the gorgeous Honor A.P., winner of the
2020 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and 15th on the first-crop sire list. Rank’s dam
is a multiple stakes-placed turf miler, and Rank’s half-sister Scent of
Success and half-brother Big Falcon Rocket are stakes-placed sprinter-milers.
The third generation of Rank’s distaff line includes the 2021 Starlet (G1)
heroine Eda. Rank looks like Honor A.P.’s mini-me with his dark bay/brown coat, flashy face,
and leg markings. A sizable colt, Rank’s pedigree indicates middle to classic
distances will be his forte. Rank was off slow in his debut and earlier gate breezes
but broke with the pack in his last start. He’s comfortable racing in company,
plus targets and passes other horses with a sustained drive. Exotics.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Rank is still a maiden after two
starts. In his debut, he finished 4th, beaten by 7 1/4 lengths by Getaway Car.
In his second start, the colt got the jump on third-place finisher Brother Tony
while finishing 5 1/2 lengths behind Gaming in second. He received a 70 Equibase
speed figure in his debut and an 83 last out. O’Neill is nine percent with a 36 percent in-the-money rate with graded stakes runners who were in the money in their previous
start over the last five years, per Race Lens. Antonio Fresu retains the
mount. Pass.

6. McKinzie
Street (4-1)

McKinzie Street graduated at first asking in a brilliant
display of speed and courage. He turned back two challenges by runner-up
Emerald Bay, a well-bred pricy Bob Baffert trainee (is there any other kind?)
who returned to win his second start by three lengths. The Tim Yakteen
trainee traveled 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04, with a 6.76-second final half furlong, and
earned a respectable 93 Brisnet rating for his efforts. McKinzie Street
drifted out down the lane from left-handed urging but was otherwise
professional. McKinzie Street is by multiple Grade 1 hero McKinzie, who
is ranked fifth on the sire list. His son Chancer McPatrick won the recent
Hopeful Stakes (G1). McKinzie Street is the first foal out of the unraced
Tale of the Cat mare Karpathos, a half-sister to precocious Graded winner and
sire Katharos. McKinzie Street recorded a trio of five-furlong moves in the 1:00
range. His final breeze was in company with the unraced filly Practical Dream
(Practical Joke) who is entered on the undercard. They ran as a team with
little separation, but McKinzie Street was urged slightly to pull ahead on
the gallop out. Exotics.

Trained by Tim Yakteen, McKinzie Street debuted a winner
here at Del Mar on July 28 in a 5 1/2-furlong, $75,000 maiden event. McKinzie
Street easily repelled a bid from the runner-up and drew off to win by 3 1/2 lengths with a 92 Equibase speed figure. The runner-up was a next out
winner while two others from the field hit the board in their next race.
Yakteen has just a 13 percent success rate with 2-year-olds but lands in the money
at a 40 percent clip, per Race Lens. Kazushi Kimura has the return call. Use
underneath.

7. Citizen Bull
(9-2)

Citizen Bull was professional in his 5 1/2-furlong debut.
He was content to press the early pace, then took over in the stretch,
putting away a game Smash it to win by 3/4 length. He kept a straight line for
Martin Garcia, never feeling the whip. Bob Baffert’s charge completed the
distance in 1:03.42 with a 6.32-second final half-furlong, earning a 91 Brisnet
rating and a 91 late pace figure, the highest in the Del Mar Futurity field. A $675,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Into
Mischief’s son is the third foal out of an unraced Distorted Humor mare who
is a half-sister to 2017 Del Mar Debutante (G1) heroine Moonshine Memories.
This is the distaff line of 1997 Horse of the Year and champion 2-year-old
Favorite Trick and multiple Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law. Citizen Bull was on the bridle and competitive in his morning
works. Citizen Bull has speed but can press the pace, making him
a dangerous contender.

The third entrant from the Bob Baffert barn, Citizen Bull
debuted a winner here at Del Mar on August 17. He won the 5 1/2-furlong,
$75,000 maiden event by a determined 3/4 length after initially pressing the
pace. Only one foe from that race has made a subsequent start, and that colt
hit the board. Citizen Bull received a 93 Equibase speed figure for his
performance. Mike Smith will replace Martin Garcia, but Smith hasn’t had much
success for Baffert over the last year. He has not won a race from six starters
and has landed in the money just once. Citizen Bull, I believe, is definitely
the third-tier runner from his barn. Use underneath.