Horse Greeley Goes Best in the Futurity

Victor Espinoza’s marvelous meet ended with two more victories at Del Mar on Wednesday, the final one when he rode Horse Greeley to a 1 3/4 -length victory in the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity, the featured race of closing day.

The last two winners of the Futurity, Stevie Wonderboy and Declan’s Moon, have gone on to win the Eclipse Award as 2-year-old champion, though both were knocked off the Kentucky Derby trail by injury.

The people around Horse Greeley, an imposing chestnut son of Mr. Greeley owned by Ray and Martha Parfet, wouldn’t mind if he became the next 2-year-old star.

“That’s a good idea,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

Espinoza, who set a track record by winning seven races Monday, finished the meet with 64, the most since Kent Desormeaux had 67 in 1993. He had good things to say after Horse Greeley overcame an early bump, stalked rival Stormello and then took the lead into the stretch of the seven-furlong race.

“He did it easy,” Espinoza said. “He’s still a baby, still learning. But he’s such a big, strong horse and he’s got that quick acceleration. When I asked him, he went right by the leader without much effort.”

The third choice in the betting, Horse Greeley paid $8.40, winning for the second time in three starts after being second to Principle Secret in his debut.

Great Hunter, one of the favorites at 2-1, was second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Stormello.

“This was a good race for him,” jockey Corey Nakatani said of the colt saddled by the leading trainer of the meet, Doug O’Neill. “We think of him as basically a two-turn horse.... And here he is doing something that isn’t his game at all, yet he does well at it.”

Prime Ruler, also 2-1, was last in the seven-horse field after rider Jon Court lost an iron early. Court replaced Alex Solis on short notice after Solis suffered bruised ribs in a spill Monday and did not ride.

A pleased Mandella, who raced Horse Greeley’s dam, Chile Chatte, recalled that some of her early foals were “funny-looking.”

“This colt came out just a beautiful colt,” he said.

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Trevor Denman, the track announcer at Del Mar, Santa Anita and Fairplex Park, has been hired by ESPN to call the races for the Breeders’ Cup telecast from Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.... With two more horses euthanized this week after injuries during morning training, Del Mar closes the meet with 18 fatalities, including 10 because of injuries during races. Del Mar officials hope a new synthetic racing surface, scheduled for installation in January if it receives final approval from the California Coastal Commission next month, will reduce injuries.... The total handle of $582 million for the 43-day meet was the second-highest in Del Mar history behind last year’s record of $608 million. On-track attendance was 716,293, an average of 16,658, down 2% from last year.

robyn.norwood@latimes.com

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Fairplex meet

Dates: Friday-Sept. 25 (runs in conjunction with the L.A. County Fair). No racing on Tuesday.

* Post times: 1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; noon Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

* Cost: Fair admission. Gates open Wednesday-Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m.; Horse racing admission gates open Monday at 11 a.m. The fair is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Source: Daily Racing Form, Fairplex.com