As the opportunities dwindle down to a precious few (apologies to Kurt Weill), it's almost September and the season's remaining graded races for 3-year-old fillies at a mile or more on the dirt are reduced to the significant Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing and the displaced Mother Goose Stakes (G2) and Comely Stakes (G3), both relegated to deep fall dates at the new Belmont Park.
For California homebodies, there is also the Torrey Pines Stakes (G3) Aug. 30 at Del Mar, in which seven fillies with something to prove will assemble for a slice of a $150,000 pie and a piece of that precious black type.
Since someone must be wondering, the Torrey pine is a rare and critically endangered member of the conifer family, for some reason found only along coastal San Diego Country—including Del Mar—and Santa Rosa Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park off the central California coast. Torrey Pines is also an expensive resort neighborhood with a golf course that has hosted the U.S. Open twice, bordering the La Jolla campus of the University of California San Diego, which is more likely the reason why the race got its name.
Despite occupying a quiet corner of the Del Mar stakes schedule, the Torrey Pines has been won by champions Beholder and Stellar Wind, 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Belvoir Bay, and the more recent grade 1 winners Hope Road and Ceiling Crusher. Last year's winner, Om N Joy, just finished fourth to Knightsbridge and the boys in the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1).
The seven fillies running Sunday will go once around the mile track, which is not asking a lot in August. But for one of the contenders, such a journey will be a new experience.
She's No Quant, bred and owned by Reddam Racing, has won her past three races under the protection of the Cal-bred program and has never been worse than third in five starts. Most recently, the daughter of Pavel moved from turf to dirt to win the Fleet Treat Stakes July 24 at Del Mar, wrapping up her 7 furlongs in a manner that encouraged trainer Edward Freeman to give the Torrey Pines a try.
"She ran that seven-eighths in a manner that suggested more ground would not be an issue," said Freeman, whose father, Arthur Freeman, rode the winner of the 1958 Grand National at Aintree. "I mean, you never know, but I'd be disappointed if she didn't get the trip."
Video: Fleet Treat S. (BT)
Freeman handles a small string at the San Luis Rey Downs Training Center, though he moves his horses to cooler Del Mar each summer. She's No Quant (short for "quantitative analyst") had just enough of a setback last year to let Freeman turn her out during the Del Mar meet. Then by March of this year she was ready to roll in a series of maiden grass races at Santa Anita Park.
"They're about the only races that would fill," Freeman noted. "But she'd also run down a bit while training at San Luis Rey. We just thought bringing her back on grass would be easier on her physically, though there was no intention to keep her on the turf alone."
She's No Quant will lose Juan Hernandez, her companion through those three straight wins, to the Bob Baffert-trained filly Rabeeba, which is interesting, since Rabeeba, a $750,000 yearling buy by Curlin , was ridden in her only two starts, both wins, by Ricky Gonzalez. Antonio Fresu picks up the mount on the Reddam filly, while Gonzalez will watch from the room.
Mohaven, second in the Fleet Treat, is 1-for-1 around two turns thanks to her 6-length score in the Melair Stakes against state-breds going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita. Racing for Legacy Ranch, Mohaven is by far the leading earner in the field, with more than $363,000 already in the bank.
After winning a maiden race in January, the Game Winner filly Bank Shot has raced through an ambitious schedule for trainer Ryan Hanson, hitting the board in four of five stakes around two turns. The maiden Wolf Hill is also stakes-placed in a two-turn dirt event—the Summertime Oaks (G3) in June—and she can hardly be faulted for lack of enthusiasm after finishing second in seven of her 10 starts for the Leonard Powell barn.
The others, Kinzlee'scharisma and Channel Place, have yet to make an impact beyond winning a maiden event.
Del Mar, Sunday, August 30, 2026, Race 7Entries: Torrey Pines S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Bank Shot (KY) Adrian Escobedo 120 Ryan Hanson - 2 She's No Quant (CA) Antonio Fresu 120 Edward R. Freeman - 3 Rabeeba (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 122 Bob Baffert - 4 Channel Place (KY) Kazushi Kimura 120 Doug F. O'Neill - 5 Mohaven (CA) Emisael Jaramillo 124 John W. Sadler - 6 Kinzlee'scharisma (KY) Tiago Josue Pereira 120 Daniel M. Jensen - 7 Wolf Hill (KY) Joel Rosario 120 Leonard Powell -
