Test Score Holds Highest Grade in Hollywood Derby Field

Del Mar is set to offer a $300,000 purse and top-level credentials Nov. 29 in the Hollywood Derby (G1T), and those Southern California prizes were enough to lure several contenders from the opposite coast. Five of the nine runners entered for the 1 1/8-mile contest have been primarily based east of the Mississippi River, but the highest grade in the class certainly belongs to Amerman Racing homebred Test Score. The field's lone grade 1 winner, courtesy of his summer victory in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T), also holds the advantage of extra studying hours compared to his East Coast peers. Trainer Graham Motion brought the Lookin At Lucky colt west early, picking off the Oct. 25 Twilight Derby (G2T) over the same distance at Santa Anita Park. Motion then kept the colt in California, where he recorded his last two works over the Del Mar dirt. To further acclimate Test Score to the new scenery, top California rider Juan Hernandez picked up the mount in the Twilight Derby and retains it Saturday. Noble Confessor, a St. Elias Stables homebred, enters with the next-best set of racing history. The son of Quality Road exits a pair of graded placings at Aqueduct Racetrack, most recently flashing some early speed over the 1 1/8-mile distance before being beaten a neck in the Nov. 8 Hill Prince Stakes (G3T). This is not the first time Noble Confessor has been shipped west by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. In 2024, he ran a respectable sixth as a maiden over the Del Mar turf when beaten just 2 1/4 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), making him the only other entrant to have tasted grade 1 waters before. Another intriguing prospect from the east is CJ Thoroughbreds and Mo Speed Racing's Tom's Magic. The Ontario-bred son of Justify finished second in the King's Plate Stakes and won the Breeders' Stakes—the first and third jewels of Canada's Triple Crown—in his two most recent efforts for trainer Michael Stidham. Juddmonte homebred stakes winner Salamis also ships east from the New York base of trainer Chad Brown, who has won the Hollywood Derby four times. The hometown team from the West Coast is led by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Madaket Stables, Sabby Racing, and Michael House's Maaz (FR), who was second to Test Score in the Twilight Derby during his graded debut. The top two finishers of the Oct. 30 Let It Ride Stakes at Del Mar, Sondereker Racing's Tempus Volat and John Ford Racing, Vivian Li, Debby Baltas, and trainer Richard Baltas' Friendly Confines, return in this spot. Friendly Confines should help add some early pace. Jay Bligh's homebred, Copp, and Janavar Thoroughbreds' homebred maiden, Kokosan, are scheduled to make their stakes debut Saturday.