Jonathan Thomas was making his way from the Del Mar saddling ring to the grandstand tunnel when a man in a tweed cap and quilted gray jacket came alongside with an outstretched hand. Still aglow from winning the Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) a half hour earlier with Augustin Stables' Truly Quality, Thomas was only too happy to accept another kudos.
"I'm Dick Mandella," the man said, which, at a California racetrack, is kind of like John Lennon introducing himself in downtown London.
Thomas was duly impressed, that a Hall of Famer would go out of his way to welcome the relative newcomer to West Coast racing at that particular moment, free of cameras or microphones.
"You need no introduction," Thomas replied, as Mandella praised Truly Quality's performance as the 8-to-5 choice.
The Hall of Famer was familiar with the accomplishment. The Turf Cup was first run in 1981 at Hollywood Park, attracting no less than John Henry at the end of his first Horse of the Year campaign. Mandella won a division of the 1982 Turf Cup with The Hague, a 3-year-old homebred from Elmendorf Farm, won a second Turf Cup in 1999 with Lazy Lode for The Thoroughbred Corp, and a third in 2006 with Boboman for the Wertheimer brothers.
The Turf Cup fell from grade 1 grace in 2012, then lost its home with the closure of Hollywood Park. Picked up by Del Mar, the race became popular with eastern stables unopposed to sending a mile and a half grass horse to San Diego in late November. Still, they had to contend with Mandella, who won the 2023 Turf Cup with Brazil's Planetario for Red Rafa Stud.
In 1982, each division of the Turf Cup was worth $400,000. The gross purse for the 2024 version, run the day after Thanksgiving, was $202,000. A rearward inflation adjustment reveals that in 1982, the equivalent amount would have been about $62,000, commonly offered at the time for a minor weekday stakes.
But that way lies madness. Dwelling on the steady erosion of California distance racing on the grass is a depressing pastime. If a horse like Truly Quality sticks around for the 2025 season at Santa Anita Park, his people would be forced to choose among the $100,000 San Marcos Stakes (G3T) at a 1 1/4 miles Feb. 8, the $100,000 San Luis Rey Stakes (G3T) at 1 1/2 miles March 22, the $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes (G2T) at a 1 1/4 miles May 3, or the $100,000 San Juan Capistrano Stakes (G3T) at 1 3/4 miles June 15. Or, why bother.
"Right now, for this horse it's not about the purses," Thomas said. "It's his development into the kind of horse we think he could be. This race fit, and I think he's getting there."
Now on a three-race stakes streak, Truly Quality is a very big boy, a coming 5-year-old with a reluctance to play by anyone else's rules. At Del Mar, the Thomas crew saddled him while walking around the ring, as jockey Vincent Cheminaud stood patiently, wondering what surprise his gelding might have in store.
"That's him," Thomas said. "I'll school him and try to make him do something wrong, and he's fine. Then we have to do it his way. That's okay, but today I really would rather he hadn't come off the bridle halfway through the race."
It was at that point in the Turf Cup Cheminaud went to riding like the wire was in sight. Up in the stands, Phil D'Amato was watching his threesome maneuver down the backstretch for the final turn led by Divin Propos, with Rockemperor and Balnikhov poised from behind. Then D'Amato glanced at Cheminaud the favorite.
"You've got to give him credit," D'Amato said. "The kid never stopped riding."
While Cheminaud pumped away, Balnikhov, an Irish gelding with more than $1 million earned over 30 starts, was in full flight under Kazushi Kimura, closing from last and clipping the top of the course alongside the long, lumbering strides of Truly Quality. With half a furlong to run, Balnikhov had the lead and the momentum. Then Truly Quality found a different tempo and glided past to win by half a length.
"My horse ran a huge race," D'Amato said. "I still can't believe he got beat."
D'Amato's fleet of grade 2 and 3 former Europeans usually dominates the California turf scene for older horses. But then comes the fall festival at Del Mar, when management aggressively hustles major stables in the East and Midwest to bolster races like the Turf Cup, and the hometown players end up playing second or third fiddle.
"It is a little disappointing," D'Amato said. "But that's kind of how California is now. They want a good stakes card for the bettors, I understand. I'm proud of my horse, though, and that's a nice horse who beat him. He won a graded stakes in Canada, which proves good form for the Turf Cup. Going forward, I think we may have answered the question that Balnikhov can run up to a mile and a half."
Balnikhov already proved he can travel. After winning Del Mar's listed Oceanside Stakes at 3, he has become the ultimate road warrior, winning graded stakes at Keeneland, Golden Gate Fields, and in May at Pimlico Race Course in the Dinner Party Stakes (G3T). Now, with Truly Quality as a measuring stick, D'Amato might be looking at the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) Jan. 25 Gulfstream Park, at 1 1/8 miles.
"I haven't run much at Gulfstream," D'Amato said. "I'm going to quiz some jockeys like (Flavien) Prat and (Frankie) Dettori about the Gulfstream turf while they're out here this week and figure out if that's something we might go after."
D'Amato is a measure twice, cut once kind of trainer who rarely leaves town without a chance. With the exception of the Bob Baffert stable, D'Amato perennially leads all California trainers in stable earnings, and currently sits 12th in the nation, just behind Bill Mott and Christophe Clement, Jonathan Thomas's former boss.
D'Amato will try to end the season on a high note in the Malibu Stakes (G1) on Santa Anita's opening day, Dec. 26, with the return of Stronghold. When last seen in Southern California, the son of Ghostzapper won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) by a neck from the Baffert colt Imagination. Since then, Stronghold was seventh in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and second in both the Indiana Derby (G3) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
"I've shipped him everywhere this year," the trainer said. "He'd lost a little bit of weight after the Parx race, so the thought was to give him a freshening. He's pretty fit now, and we've got four works mapped out to get him to the Malibu and give him a chance at another grade 1 win."
Since the Malibu was first run in 1952, only three horses have taken a Santa Anita Derby-Malibu double, most recently Taiba in 2022. Waiting for Stronghold this time could be yet another invader—Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan.
"That's the kind of competition you have to deal with to win a grade 1 race," D'Amato said. "There will be a number of good horses and plenty of speed, which should flatter our horse's style. It should be fun to find out."
