It would be a well-deserved victory for Hero Status today as he makes his fourth career start after three in-the-money finishes. As they say, patience pays off, and our 3-year-old colt by Flatter will make his first start at the one-mile distance in the fourth race at Del Mar, a $80,000 maiden special weight on the main track. The stretch out in distance is exactly what we have been waiting for; in his last two races (6 1/2 furlongs and 7 furlongs), he consistently made up ground in the stretch, and as trainer Mark Glatt has continually said, with Hero Status going one mile, he’ll be tough to beat.
With Hero Status in post position five and outside of co-favorite, John Shirreffs trainee, Palagio, he will have the advantage of seeing how the field shapes out in front of him, right from the start. Hero Status is the “horse to beat” but will have to watch out for those making a late move in the final turn.
Hero Status is the morning-line favorite with odds of 8/5 with Edwin Maldonado aboard.
Post time is 3:30 p.m. PT. Good luck to all of his owners!
About the Competition (in post position order):
Go Joe Won (5/1) has put together two solid efforts since stretching out in distance. Finished behind Palagio last time out and will need to turn the tables on him first before becoming a win candidate. This ridgling of Protonico earned 9 3/4’s on the Thoro-Graph sheets which indicate he will return with a similar effort if not an improvement.
Palagio (5/2) took a major step up in career start #2. The winner of that race, Troubadour, has returned twice since, finishing fourth in an allowance race followed by a ninth-place finish. Palagio is the biggest threat in this field based on numbers but he could react as well to his most recent performance.
Practical Impact (20/1) receives the ultimate equipment change and runs as a first-time gelding. A major wake-up call is needed.
Surrogate (6/1) debuted going 11 furlongs on the grass. Not your traditional way of getting a horse started and certainly not an easy task. The 3-year-old son of Arrogate ran extremely well, considering. Has always worked well over the dirt, so you wouldn’t imagine there is any concern if he will handle the dirt but he does not appear to have much speed. Interesting note on the comments of his last race, “Bad step, lost action.” It did not appear anything specific happened so maybe he didn’t enjoy the turf.
Hero Status (8/5) is the horse beat in this field. Not only has he improved each and every race, he is now receiving the added distance he has been desperately needing. Our 3-year-old son of Flatter ran a 4 on the Thoro-Graph sheets, which is an above-average number for the level. He has received sufficient time to recover from that effort and seems primed for a winning effort today.
Donner Lake (6/1) is the lone CA-bred facing open company. This 3-year-old is a half-sibling to recent 2yo stakes winner Tom’s Regret. While this colt has done most of his running on the grass to this point, from a pedigree standpoint the dirt should not present any issues. His lone dirt effort was decent enough.
Lord Sheldon (6/1) improved in career start number two when adding the blinkers and trying the grass for the first time. The connections started this colt around two turns so it is no surprise he sticks to the route of ground. His mare’s lone win came on the dirt at Los Alamitos, so the surface should be no issue. Would need to step up again.
