DEL MAR — Gold Phoenix’s streak is over.
The powerfully built 8-year-old gelding failed late Saturday afternoon in his bid to win a fifth straight Del Mar Handicap.
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He wasn’t even Bronze Phoenix.
Gold Phoenix, the even-money favorite, finished fourth in a field of 11 in the 1 3/8-mile Grade II marathon.
But a possibly even more impressive streak continued with Test Score’s neck victory over Atitlan in the 87th running of the long turf test.
Test Score is the eighth straight horse — and third this meeting — to win after being shipped in from the east by trainer Graham Motion.
Gold Phoenix trainer Phil D’Amato did gain a consolation prize. His Iron Man Cal won the $250,000 Grade II Pat O’Brien Stakes just ahead of the Del Mar Handicap. The victory assured Iron Man Cal a berth in the Breeders’ Cup.
The spotlight Saturday, however, was on the Del Mar Handicap and Gold Phoenix’s bid to become only the third horse in racing history to win the same stakes five straight times while upping his own Del Mar record for consecutive wins in the same stakes race and overall stakes wins (he has six).
Gold Phoenix was ninth or 10th under Hector Berrios for the first mile before moving up with his heralded late-race kick. But he could climb no higher than fourth behind traffic.
“Gold Phoenix could have gotten a little bit cleaner trip,” said D’Amato. “They really walked the dog early and when that happens, everybody is charging late and Hector took a chance to go up in there. It got a little tight, but once he got through he battled and we just got outrun.”
“This is a very professional horse,” winning jockey Juan Hernandez said of Test Score. “He knows how to run. He knows how to win. I’ve ridden him before and that helped. He just runs his race. He doesn’t pull. He just stays calm and goes about his business.”
“He’s a little horse who will not give up,” Alice Clapham, the assistant to Motion said of Test Score. “I was a little worried around the bend when he had a lot of horses around him. But he got clear, changed his lead and just kept going.”Test Score and Atitlan (Umberto Rispoli) both moved up after the mile pole and passed Mondego and Atomic Age in the stretch.
Earlier, Del Mar jockey leader Joel Rosario put Iron Man Cal on the lead early, put a bit of space between the 5-year-old gelding and the rest of the field coming off the far turn and held on to beat runner-up Moonlight (Victor Espinoza) by a half length with favored Big City Lights (Kazushi Kimura) another half length back with Stronghold (Antonio Fresu) finishing fourth.
“Phil just told me we wanted to be near the front,” said Rosario. “And that’s where we were for most of the trip. He ran good, he was game.”
The start of the Pat O’Brien Stakes was delayed 10 minutes as Iron Man Cal was reshod in the paddock.
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“He must have liked those new shoes,” said Rosario.
“I told Joel to break him like you’re going to come out running,” said D’Amato. “If you’re on the lead and no one wants it, go with it. He broke running and went with it.
“I think his style of running fits the dirt better. He has steady speed which means he doesn’t have to quicken as much.”
During the 7-furlong race, four other horses challenged Iron Man Cal for the lead. But none passed the 4-year-old gelded son of Collected.
Fifth in the O’Brien was March of Time, a 5-year-old, Bob Baffert-trained son of Justify who is co-owned by baseball stars Alex Bregman and the Padres’ Walker Buehler.
Match race plus 1
Two Cal-bred fillies who battled to the wire in the July 24 Fleet Treat Stakes will be joined Sunday by a talented Baffert filly in the Grade III Torrey Pines Stakes — the 1-mile, $150,000 feature for 3-year-old fillies.
Seven fillies are entered for the feature, which goes off as the seventh of 10 races.
She’s No Quant rallied in the stretch under Hernandez last month to catch Mohaven in the final strides for a one-length victory. Mohaven, the odds-on favorite who had led nearly every step of the way, settled for second.
While Emisael Jaramillo will be back on the John Sadler-trained Mohaven on Sunday, Fresu will ride She’s No Quant because Hernandez is on the Baffert-trained Rabeeka, a daughter of Curlin — who has won both of her two career starts, including an allowance race on July 26, under Ricardo Gonzalez.
Notable
Leading jockey Rosario was thrown to the ground in Saturday’s first race when favorite Ala Sawab stumbled leaving the starting gate and almost came to a stop. Rosario was examined by track physicians and allowed to continue riding. He won the second race on Carolina Legacy ($5.40) and the Pat O’Brien.
• The Baffert-trained Himari, a 3-year-old daughter of Nyquist who was a $350,000 purchase, finished fourth among five horses as the 1-5 favorite in Saturday’s third race, a 1-mile run on the dirt for older Cal-bred fillies and mares.
• Fresu won three races Saturday to take sole possession of third in the jockey standings. But he was also suspended three racing days for altering course without sufficient clearance aboard winner Big Blast in Friday’s eighth race. His suspension is for Sept. 12, 13 and 18. The 18th is when Fresu is expected to begin riding at Belmont Park.