DEL MAR — A 2026 Kentucky Derby starter and two horses who beat him earlier in his career head up an interesting feature Friday for 3-year-old Cal-breds at Del Mar.

Pavlovian, a son of Pavel trained by Doug O’Neill, returns to Southern California after an unsuccessful spring trip to Kentucky. Pavlovian was 18th and last in the Kentucky Derby some 48½ lengths behind winner Golden Tempo, then finished seventh among eight starters five weeks later in the Grade III Matt Winn Stakes also at Churchill Downs.

But Pavlovian is the morning-line favorite to win Friday’s ungraded, $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes.

Eleven starters are expected for the seven-furlong race on the main track, including Ocean Bear, who won last November’s Golden State Juvenile at Del Mar on the Breeders’ Cup undercard after defeating Pavlovian four weeks earlier in an entry-level allowance race at Santa Anita.

Pavlovian is the early 7-2 pick with Edwin Maldonado back aboard. Maldonado rode Pavlovian in both Kentucky races. Ocean Bear (Umberto Rispoli) is 5-1 with Start the Ride (Armando Ayuso) at 4-1.

An early speed horse, Pavlovian showed up on the Kentucky Derby list of hopefuls after winning the Sunland Park Derby then leading the Grade II Louisiana Derby until being caught at the wire.

But nothing seemed copasetic about Pavlovian’s stay in Kentucky.

“It was different weather and a different environment,” said Leandro Mora, an assistant trainer to O’Neill. “It could have been mental. A lot of horses, when they reach the stage of the Kentucky Derby, learn it’s not for them. He’s happy to be back in California.”

Ocean Bear, a son of Bolt d’Oro, has won three in a row but will be making his 2026 debut after having a chip in his knee removed. Start the Ride finished second in the Los Alamitos Derby on June 27. Start the Ride was also mentioned as a Kentucky Derby possible when he won the Cal Cup Derby at Santa Anita in January only to subsequently run sixth in the Grade II San Felipe then fifth in the Santa Anita Derby.

Notable

Journalism, who was retired after suffering an injury at the start of his winning run in the Grade II San Diego Handicap, departed Del Mar on Tuesday. His new home will be the Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky.

• Hejazi, a $3.5 million purchase by Zedan Racing as a 2-year-old in 2022, will make his 2026 debut Friday with Juan Hernandez up for trainer Bob Baffert. Hejazi hasn’t raced since running second to Lovesick Blues on July 26, 2025, in the Bing Crosby.

•  Bessie Coleman ($24) won Thursday’s feature, a six-furlong sprint for older Cal-bred fillies and mares.

•  Only one favorite (Sugar Reign, $7.20, in the third) won Thursday and favorites are now winning at a 16.67% rate (13-for-78).

There was not a winning ticket in the Pick Six with the carryover being $31,077.60.