Youth Should Be Served at Del Mar This Season

A year ago, Pat Valenzuela and Julie Krone were winning races in gobs at Del Mar in a riding-title rivalry that would extend to the meet’s final day. Now, for far different reasons, neither Valenzuela nor Krone is on hand for Del Mar’s 65th opening, but the historic seaside track will make do.

Valenzuela, who beat out Krone, 52 wins to 49, in 2003, is missing today because of yet another drug-related run-in with the California Horse Racing Board. His court appeal denied, Valenzuela must go before the Del Mar stewards for a hearing before his case is further reviewed. A Los Angeles judge said that that hearing must take place by July 29.

On opening day last year -- the first time she had ridden here -- Krone jumped into the arms of the wrestler Goldberg after winning a stake, and she went from there to win the Pacific Classic (with Candy Ride), the Del Mar Debutante (Halfbridled) and the Del Mar Futurity (Siphonizer).

But Krone, a Hall of Famer who has won 3,704 races, a record for a woman, recently told the Daily Racing Form -- where her husband, Jay Hovdey, works as a columnist -- that she won’t ride at Del Mar and her career might be over. Krone, who’ll turn 41 on Saturday, broke several ribs and sustained back injuries in a spill at Hollywood Park seven months ago. She rode three races at Santa Anita in February before saying that she needed more time to recover.

In much the way the Southern California jockey colony has morphed with the retirements of Hall of Famers Laffit Pincay, Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye in recent years, the new guard will try to establish a foothold at Del Mar. Bettors here can be expected to flock to the mounts of the 21-year-old Tyler Baze, fresh from the riding title at Hollywood Park, where his 59 wins beat out Victor Espinoza by four in the jockeys’ race. Baze’s win rate at Hollywood was an excellent 19%.

Last year at Del Mar, Baze broke the toe and another bone in his left foot in an Aug. 11 spill that killed three horses. Riding in only 169 races, Baze won 15 and finished in a tie for eighth in the standings.

Baze has mounts in all but one of today’s nine races, and with Semi Lost and Fairly Run has shots at both halves of the divided Oceanside Stakes. Semi Lost, who won twice on the grass with Baze at Hollywood Park, could go off favored in his division. Fairly Run might give Baze supporters a chance at a price in the second heat. The French-bred colt is a recent arrival from Longchamp, where Gary Stevens won with him in May. Fairly Run will be saddled for the first time by Mike Puhich, whose brother, Ivan, books Baze’s mounts. Of Baze’s three stakes wins here, one came with Dr. Park in a division of the Oceanside in 2001.

While the Oceanside begins the stir of the pot, it is of little import nationally. But Del Mar will come to a boil quickly, with the running of the John C. Mabee Handicap on Saturday and Sunday’s Eddie Read and Bing Crosby Handicaps. All three are Grade I stakes, the Crosby having been elevated from Grade II status this year.

Of the three remaining Grade I’s on the schedule, the richest is the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 22. Track officials hope that Pleasantly Perfect and Olmodavor, both from trainer Richard Mandella’s barn, and Southern Image, his foot problems perhaps behind him, will run in the Classic.

Pleasantly Perfect, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and Southern Image are generally considered to be the best older horses in training. Olmodavor was second to Total Impact in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Pleasantly Perfect, winner of the Dubai World Cup in March, worked five furlongs here Sunday in 1:03 1/5 and is expected to prep for the Pacific Classic by running in the San Diego Handicap on Aug. 1.

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Trainer Dan Hendricks, who grew up in the Del Mar area, has undergone surgery after being injured in a motorcycle accident on July 7, and is expected to be paralyzed from the waist down. Hendricks, 45, may return to work before the meet ends. One of his horses, Eyes Like Fire, is running in today’s third race. During his absence, the barn is being managed by his wife, Samantha Henricks, stable foreman Berna Ortiz and assistant trainer Cisco Alvarado.

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Del Mar Facts

* What: Horse racing at Del Mar.

* When: Today-Sept. 8 (43 days).

* Post times: 2 p.m. Wednesday-Monday with the following exceptions: 4 p.m. on July 23, July 30, Aug. 6 and Aug. 13; 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, Aug. 27 and Sept. 3; 1 p.m. on Aug. 22.

* Significant races: $400,000 John C. Mabee Handicap (Saturday), $250,000 Bing Crosby Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Sunday), $400,000 Eddie Read Handicap (Sunday), $150,000 San Diego Handicap (Aug. 1), $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (Aug. 8), $300,000 Del Mar Oaks (Aug. 21), $1-million Pacific Classic (Aug. 22), $250,000 Del Mar Debutante (Aug. 29), $250,000 Del Mar Handicap (Aug. 29), $400,000 Del Mar Derby (Sept. 6) and $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (Sept. 8).

* Leading jockey (2003 meet): Patrick Valenzuela (52 wins).

* Leading trainer (2003 meet): Bob Baffert (23 wins).