Four graded stakes on turf including a wide-open Grade 1 Hollywood Derby are on tap Saturday as the turf festival at Del Mar begins on a rain-saturated course. First post Saturday is early, at 12 noon.
Juvenile fillies including Princesa Caroline (12) and Guitty (14) race one mile in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes, race 2. Older fillies and mares led by Siberian Iris (8) and upset candidate Tiny Tina (4) go a mile and three-eighths in the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap, race 4. Turf males including favorite Sacred Life (4) and Prince Earl (7) race a mile and a sixteenth in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap, race 6.
The mile and one-eighth Hollywood Derby is race 8, with 13 entered. The program favorite is Neptune’s Storm (5), while two horses with bad-trip alibis for their most recent start offer value: Digital Age (4) and Nolde (6). Sunday is closing day at Del Mar.
The Los Alamitos winter meet begins Friday, with two important races for 2-year-olds scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7. The Grade 1 Starlet for fillies is expected to include Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Donna Veloce; the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity is expected to draw BC Juvenile runner-up Anneau d’Or.