Well-traveled Summer Front ships again for Eddie Read Stakes
July 21, 2014DEL MAR, Calif. – For a New York-based horse, Summer Front is spending a lot of time in California this year.
He was a game second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Santa Anita in June and returns to the circuit for Sunday’s $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar. From jockey Joe Bravo’s perspective, the Grade 1 Read will help Summer Front address some unfinished business.
Bravo rode Summer Front in the Shoemaker and was frustrated when the pacesetter, Obviously, proved impossible to catch. Summer Front was beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Obviously.
“Don’t give up on Summer Front,” Bravo said in the moments after that race. “He’s going to do some good things this year.”
The Read provides that opportunity. Owned by Waterford Stable, Summer Front has won 8 of 19 starts and earned $814,140. A seven-time stakes winner, Summer Front is trained by Christophe Clement and has been based at Belmont Park in recent weeks.
The Read is run over 1 1/8 miles on turf and will be Summer Front’s first start at that distance since a second to Five Iron in the Grade 3 Fort Marcy Stakes at Belmont Park on May 3. Summer Front is winless in three starts since the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on turf at Gulfstream Park in January.
Summer Front is one of four stakes winners in the Read field, along with Cogito, Tom’s Tribute, and Unbridled Command. Trainer John Sadler has two outsiders in Horizontalyspeakin, seventh in an optional claimer in June, and Spring Up, who was fifth in two stakes this year.
KEY CONTENDERS
Summer Front (Last 3 Beyers: 104-98-87)
* The well-traveled Summer Front has made three starts in California. He was sixth in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in November 2012 and a game second by a nose in the Grade 2 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park last November.
* Summer Front is Bravo’s first mount at Del Mar since 1998.
* Clement has won five stakes here, most recently the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks with Discreet Marq in 2013.
Tom’s Tribute (Last 3 Beyers: 103-103-97)
* Tom’s Tribute closed from last of seven in the Shoemaker Mile to finish third, two lengths behind Obviously. Trainer Jim Cassidy hoped Obviously would be softened by the presence of another pacesetter. “I expected more pace,” he said.
* Tom’s Tribute has won two minor stakes and is racing 1 1/8 miles on turf for the first time.
“He tries,” Cassidy said.
* While the distance will be a test, there is another logical spot for Tom’s Tribute in the $250,000 Del Mar Mile on turf Aug. 24.
“I thought about waiting for the Del Mar Mile, but I thought no,” Cassidy said.
Unbridled Command (Last 3 Beyers: 73-103-95)
* Unbridled Command finished eighth in an optional claimer June 21 at Santa Anita, his first start for trainer Peter Miller and his first race in 16 months.
Regarding the comeback, Miller said, “We knew he needed the race. He should be fitter coming out of it.”
* A 5-year-old horse, Unbridled Command won the 2012 Hollywood Derby, his most prestigious win in a 12-race career.
* Miller said Unbridled Command is a prospect for distance turf races later this summer and autumn, mentioning the $200,000 Del Mar Handicap over 1 3/8 miles on turf Aug. 23 as a possibility.
“Our main goal is the Del Mar Handicap and the Breeders’ Cup Turf,” Miller said.