Pappacap , a maiden winner from Gulfstream Park trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, and Finneus , a Santa Anita Park maiden winner who topped the 2020 Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling sale, are among the entrants for the $200,000 Best Pal Stakes (G2). The six-furlong Best Pal, to be run at Del Mar Aug. 7, will go as the ninth race on the 11-race card, with a post time of 6 p.m. PT.
Rustlewood Farm bred and races Pappacap. A Florida-bred son of the Scat Daddy graded stakes-placed mare Pappascat, Pappacap is from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner . Favored at even money in his only start, Pappacap won a five-furlong maiden race May 14 by 2 3/4 lengths. Joe Bravo is set to ride Pappacap, who drew post 3.
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Trainer Walther Solis has entered two for owner/breeder Terry Lovingier and partners by California sire Stay Thirsty , who stands at Lovingier's Lovacres Ranch near Warner Springs, Calif. Finneus and Thirsty Always are both California-breds and have also been nominated to the $100,000 Graduation Stakes Aug. 8 for California-breds and California-sired runners.
Lovingier said Aug. 4 that he expects Finneus to run in the Best Pal and that Thirsty Always would be entered in the Graduation and a decision on which race would be made later.
Finneus first attracted headlines when he topped the 2020 Fasig-Tipton sale at Los Alamitos Race Course. Naseer Fasihuddin purchased Finneus for $200,000 from the Lovacres Ranch consignment, and he now owns the colt with Lovingier and Amanda Navarro. Finneus is out of Lovingier's homebred Ghostzapper stakes-winning mare My Fiona, the champion Cal-bred 2-year-old female of 2014.
In two starts, Finneus ran third and then scored in a June 13 maiden race at Santa Anita Park by three-quarters of a length. He led home a Stay Thirsty Trifecta, as second-place Sauls Call and third-place Mr. T's Thirsty are also by the sire.
"Finneus is a big, long-jumping horse," said Lovingier. "He'll have to come from off the pace. I don't know if he'll get to them going that short. He's a really good horse. When you look at him in person, he's breathtaking."
Finneus is a half brother to Fi Fi Pharoah, a 3-year-old Cal-bred daughter of American Pharoah . Bred and co-owned by Lovingier and trained by Solis, Fi Fi Pharoah won this year's Melair Stakes at Santa Anita.
Lovingier sold Thirsty Always at the same Fasig-Tipton sale for $70,000 to Saul Carrillo. Carrillo now owns the colt with Lovingier and Tom Beckerle. Thirsty Always is 2-for-2, having broken his maiden in his debut May 16 at Santa Anita and then winning the July 10 Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton.
Finneus and Thirsty Always drew next to each other in posts 4 and 5, respectively. Umberto Rispoli will ride Finneus, while Cesar Ortega pilots Thirsty Always.
Peter Miller, currently the leading trainer at Del Mar, has entered two: Gary Barber's Bet On Mookie (jockey Abel Cedillo, post 1) and Peter Redekop B.C.'s Aquitania Arrival (Juan Hernandez, post 6).
Bet On Mookie, perhaps a hunch play for fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers and its star Mookie Betts, ran second in his debut before breaking his maiden by 5 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita June 11. Miller purchased the Florida-bred son of Uncaptured for $125,000 at the 2021 Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training from the Ocala Stud consignment.
Aquitania Arrival made his first start at Churchill Downs for trainer William Morey. The Kentucky-bred son of Carpe Diem won by 1 3/4 lengths May 28.
Del Mar, Saturday, August 7, 2021, Race 9Entries: Best Pal S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Bet On Mookie (FL) Abel Cedillo 120 Peter Miller 5/2 2 2Our Empire (FL) Tyler Baze 118 James K. Chapman 20/1 3 3Pappacap (FL) Joe Bravo 120 Mark E. Casse 8/5 4 4Finneus (CA) Umberto Rispoli 120 Walther Solis 3/1 5 5Thirsty Always (CA) Cesar Ortega 120 Walther Solis 7/2 6 6Aquitania Arrival (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 118 Peter Miller 4/1 7 7Olympic Legend (KY) Jose Valdivia, Jr. 118 Luis Mendez 10/1
