Formidable Man (City of Light), favored off a win in the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar July 20, stormed to the lead and held off Stay Hot late to earn his first graded victory in the GII Del Mar Derby at the oceanside oval Sunday. The 6-5 favorite was away smartly before settling off the pace as longshot Sketchy (Uncle Mo) set a pedestrian pace. The tempo quickened noticeably on the far turn and Formidable Man rolled up three wide into the lane to hit the lead at midstretch. Stay Hot tried in vain to reel in the favorite late.
“When it's a small field like that, it's always tactical,” said winning rider Umberto Rispoli. “My first intention was to go outside and lead and I know at some point I need to get a jump on him [Stay Hot] but thanks to [trainer] Michael [McCarthy], we did it. He has been improving race by race, with credit to the McCarthy team. The key was to get the jump on Stay Hot and I think it worked okay for us. I am certainly happy with that.”
McCarthy, who trained the winner's multiple Grade I-winning sire for these same owners, added, “A salty bunch of horses like this, there's not a whole lot separating the top three. I wouldn't say I was confident; I just was very happy with the way the horse had trained.”
Formidable Man, a maiden winner over the Del Mar lawn last September, took a nine-furlong optional claimer over the Santa Anita turf in March and set the pace before settling for second behind Trikari (Oscar Performance) in the May 4 GII American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs. Sixth in the June 1 Audubon Stakes, he returned to the West Coast to win the one-mile Oceanside last time out.
Pedigree Notes:
Formidable Man is the fourth graded winner for City of Light. His dam, Fanticola, won the 2015 GII Royal Heroine Stakes and was second in the GI Gamely Stakes. The 14-year-old mare has a yearling filly by Knicks Go and produced a filly by Jack Christopher this year. She was bred back to Star Guitar. She was purchased by Clear Creek Stud for $60,000 while in foal to Flatter at the 2021 Keeneland November sale. Her unraced 2-year-old Cc Cola (Flatter) RNA'd for $37,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.
Sunday, Del Mar
CAESARS SPORTSBOOK DEL MAR DERBY-GII, $300,500, Del Mar, 9-1, 3yo, 1 1/8mT, 1:49.87, fm.
1–FORMIDABLE MAN, 122, c, 3, by City of Light
1st Dam: Fanticola (GSW & GISP, $561,986),
by Silent Name (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Catalina Cat, by Tabasco Cat
3rd Dam: Irish Dear, by Irish River (Fr)
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($375,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP).
O-William Warren, Jr. & Suzanne Warren; B-Town & Country
Horse Farms, LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Umberto
Rispoli. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 9-4-2-0, $457,425. Werk
Nick Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Stay Hot, 122, r, 3, Summer Front–Etsu, by Smart Strike.
($130,000 Ylg '22 FTKJUL). O-Burns Racing LLC, Exline-Border
Racing LLC, SAF Racing, The Estate of Brereton C. Jones and
William Dan Hudock; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Peter Eurton.
$60,000.
3–Atitlan, 122, c, 3, The Factor–Armanda (Ger), by Acatenango
(Ger). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-John M. B. O'Connor;
B-Anastasie Astrid Christiansen-Croy (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs.
$36,000.
Margins: HF, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 1.20, 1.80, 7.20.
Also Ran: Gold Foot, Sketchy, Guy Named Joe. Scratched: Curlin's Kaos. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Perfectly timed. 🏇💨
Formidable Man & @umbyrispoli take down the GII @CaesarsSports Del Mar Derby. pic.twitter.com/RdVtxVUWN8
— Del Mar Racetrack (@DelMarRacing) September 2, 2024
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