Holy Lute will try to execute Plan B at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. – It is not always easy to find an appropriate race for a particular horse and then gain entry. Ask any frustrated trainer, such as Jim Cassidy. Cassidy planned to start Holy Lute in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, but a racing official mistakenly pre-entered him in the BC Sprint. The blunder was discovered late. Holy Lute was moved to the Turf Sprint but relegated to the also-eligible list. He shipped to Kentucky and did not draw in. “We needed seven defections; we got six,” Cassidy said. Holy Lute returned home to California with an option – a $59,000 allowance turf sprint that will be run as race 7 on Thursday at Del Mar.

It is not as simple for Yahilwa, sixth in the BC Distaff. Cassidy was aiming her to the Grade 2 Bayakoa Stakes, a filly-and-mare route traditionally run in December in Southern California. Not this year. A Los Alamitos official confirmed that the Bayakoa will be suspended, leaving the West Coast filly-and-mare division without a post-Breeders’ Cup graded stakes on the main track. “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Cassidy said regarding Yahilwa.

Los Alamitos is expected to release its fall stakes program soon. The meet begins Dec. 3. For Cassidy, news from his stable is not all grim. He won the Kathryn Crosby Stakes on Saturday with Full Ransom, graded stakes winner Prize Exhibit is aiming for the Grade 1 Matriarch on Nov. 29, and Holy Lute will take some beating Thursday. Eight entered the five-furlong allowance turf sprint, including the 5-for-9 stakes winner Richard’s Boy, the sharp gelding Aotearoa, the speedster and first-time gelding El Nino Terrible, the closers Toowindytohaulrox and Hay Dude, and the outsiders Bench Warrant and Di Giorgio.

KEY CONTENDERS Holy Lute (Last 3 Beyer Speed Figures: 72-94-98); The current form of Holy Lute is muddled – he lost his most recent start by more than 10 lengths. It was an off-the-turf sprint at Keeneland that would have been a prep for the BC Turf Sprint. Wet weather forced the race to the main track. “Because I made the trip, I decided to run him on dirt,” Cassidy said. “He didn’t like it at all.”; Class Racing Stable owns Holy Lute, a 5-year-old who is 4 for 20 overall. His win in the five-furlong Green Flash on the Del Mar turf in August is a main reason he is expected to be favored Thursday. Santiago Gonzalez rides Holy Lute. The meet’s leading jockey (8 for 38) after two weeks, Gonzalez is coming off a big weekend. He won both Del Mar stakes – Full Ransom in the Kathryn Crosby on Saturday and My Monet in the Betty Grable on Sunday.

Richard’s Boy (Last 3 Beyer Speed Figures: 83-85-76); Peter Miller trains the front-running sprinter, a lightly raced (5 for 9) stakes winner. Richard’s Boy finished second by a head last out in a $100,105 stakes at Fresno. “He hooked a $12.5K claimer [Cartoonist] and got run down the last few strides,” Miller said. Miller’s pace analysis of the Thursday allowance focuses on Richard’s Boy: “He looks like the speed of the race.”; Victor Espinoza rides Richard’s Boy, who breaks from the outside with only one apparent pace rival – El Nino Terrible, a first-time gelding trained by Doug O’Neill.

Aotearoa (Last 3 Beyer Speed Figures: 90-87-67); A second-level optional-claiming win last out for Aotearoa was his first victory since a $32,000 claiming race early in the year. Aotearoa, trained by Leonard Powell, won the Zuma Beach Stakes in 2013 and is 4 for 20.