{"id":403593,"date":"2026-07-18T15:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T15:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403593\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T15:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T15:59:14","slug":"del-mar-journalism-looks-right-at-home-for-san-diego-handicap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403593\/","title":{"rendered":"Del Mar: Journalism looks right at home for San Diego Handicap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Del<\/p>\n

\n Photo:<\/p>\n

Gary Johnson \/ Eclipse Sportswire<\/p>\n

Last year at this time Journalism<\/a> was preparing for the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park. He had been the only horse to run in all three jewels of the Triple Crown, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby, first in the Preakness Stakes and second again to Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He would go on to win the Haskell in dramatic fashion, surging late to run down very game Gosger. That\u2019s why he was the odds-on favorite to win the Pacific Classic (G1) six weeks later. He would come up short that day, finishing second to Fierceness in Del Mar\u2019s marquee race.<\/p>\n

Click here for Del Mar entries and results<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Journalism would run one more time at Del Mar, running fourth in the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic in the fall.<\/p>\n

The 4-year-old son of Curlin returns to the seaside oval Saturday when he will be the even-money program favorite taking on six rivals in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Diego Handicap<\/a>, a 1 1\/16-mile local prep for the Pacific Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have a home game for him,\u201d trainer Michael McCarthy said, \u201cinstead of having to put him on a plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy has run Journalism twice this year, both times outside of California. He finished third behind White Abarrio and Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) in Arkansas, and he posted another third-place finish in the Met Mile (G1) at Saratoga on Belmont Stakes day.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very impressive, physical specimen,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a bigger, stronger horse this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalism, whose owners are led by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, will have Umberto Rispoli back in the saddle and a top impost of 125 pounds. Rispoli rode the colt all through 2025 until the Breeders\u2019 Cup. That was where he was replaced by Jos\u00e9 Ortiz, who had been his regular rider since.<\/p>\n

They will have to contend with another Breeders\u2019 Cup winner in the San Diego. Full Serrano returns to where he took the Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile in 2024. A couple of months before, he was nailed late by long shot Mixto in the Pacific Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of his favorite tracks,\u201d Full Serrano\u2019s trainer John Sadler said. \u201cHe\u2019s won two races and has two seconds here, so we\u2019re looking forward to that. We think that\u2019s going to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full Serrano, an Argentina-bred 7-year-old, won an allowance race by seven lengths at Del Mar last summer but then finished a disappointing fifth in his defense of his Dirt Mile crown. He also has run twice in 2026, posting a third-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in January and running fourth in the Oaklawn Mile (G3) in March.<\/p>\n

Sadler has won the San Diego five times and comes into the summer meet in second place on the career list of stakes wins by trainers at Del Mar with 93. He also sends out The Goat, a Chile-bred 5-year-old who made his U.S. debut in May, finishing fourth in the Triple Bend (G3) at Santa Anita.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is his second race out of Chile, where he was a champion,\u201d Sadler said. \u201cHe hadn\u2019t run in a year, so we\u2019re anxious to give him a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trainer Phil D\u2019Amato also has a pair of entries in the San Diego. Shea Brennan is coming off of a win in the $100,000 Bertrando at Los Alamitos in his 4-year-old debut last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t expect him to show the kind of speed he did,\u201d D\u2019Amato said. \u201cBut he did it the right way and finished with some in reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California-bred son of Tough Sunday is owned by Nick Alexander. He broke his maiden at Del Mar in 2024 and ran second in last year\u2019s $150,000 Real Good Deal Stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe likes this Del Mar surface,\u201d D\u2019Amato said. \u201cI think second off the bench he\u2019ll be primed and ready to run his best race. He\u2019s going to need to be with some nice horses in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of whom is his stablemate, Iron Man Cal, a 4-year-old son of Collected who missed winning the Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile Turf by a neck at Del Mar in 2024. He ran second in last year\u2019s Oceanside Stakes and has been keeping allowance company in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to try something new here on the dirt,\u201d D\u2019Amato said. \u201cHe trains really well on the dirt, but you never know if these grass horses in the afternoon will take to it like they do in the morning. He has been training with some of my better horses like Shea Brennan and Stronghold and doing as well as them. That\u2019s why we\u2019re taking a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mirahmadi, the runner-up in both the 2023 Del Mar Futurity and last year\u2019s edition of the San Diego, has not raced since. He makes his 5-year-old debut Saturday, going with blinkers off.<\/p>\n

Mc Vay is out of the Peter Eurton barn and ran third last out in the Gold Cup (G2).<\/p>\n

This is the 85th running of the San Diego Handicap. It goes off as the eighth of 11 races. The scheduled post time is 8:40 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n

No.
\nSilks
\nHorse \/ Sire
\nRating
\nTrainer \/ Jockey
\nLast Start \/ Next Start
\nML<\/p>\n

1
\n\"Horse
\nMc Vay<\/a>
Constitution<\/a>
\n6.91
\nPeter Eurton<\/a>
Hector I. Berrios<\/a>
\n3rd (119), 2026 Hollywood Gold Cup G2<\/a>
\n15-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
\n3rd (119), 2026 Hollywood Gold Cup G2<\/a><\/p>\n

2
\n\"Horse
\nMirahmadi<\/a>
Into Mischief<\/a>
\n6.85
\nBob Baffert<\/a>
Juan J. Hernandez<\/a>
\n2nd (119), 2025 San Diego Handicap G2<\/a>
\n6-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
\n2nd (119), 2025 San Diego Handicap G2<\/a><\/p>\n

3
\n\"Horse
\nShea Brennan<\/a>
Tough Sunday<\/a>
\n4.79
\nPhilip D’Amato<\/a>
Armando Ayuso<\/a>
\n1st (124), Bertrando S.
\n12-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
\n1st (124), Bertrando S.<\/p>\n

4
\n\"Horse
\nIron Man Cal<\/a>
Collected<\/a>
\n6.28
\nPhilip D’Amato<\/a>
Antonio Fresu<\/a>
\n1st (119), SA AOC (06\/07\/2026-R8)
\n10-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
\n1st (119), SA AOC (06\/07\/2026-R8)<\/p>\n

5
\n\"Horse
\nJournalism<\/a>
Curlin<\/a>
\n7.92
\nMichael W. McCarthy<\/a>
Umberto Rispoli<\/a>
\n3rd (121), 2026 Metropolitan G1<\/a>
2026 Pacific Classic G1<\/a>
\n1-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
Next Race
\n3rd (121), 2026 Metropolitan G1<\/a>
2026 Pacific Classic G1<\/a><\/p>\n

6
\n\"Horse
\nFull Serrano<\/a>
Full Mast<\/a>
\n7.82
\nJohn W. Sadler<\/a>
Joel Rosario<\/a>
\n4th (110), 2026 Oaklawn Mile G3<\/a>
\n7-2<\/p>\n

Last Race
\n4th (110), 2026 Oaklawn Mile G3<\/a><\/p>\n

7
\n\"Horse
\nThe Goat<\/a>
Midshipman<\/a>
\n0.00
\nJohn W. Sadler<\/a>
Emisael Jaramillo<\/a>
\n4th , 2026 Triple Bend G3<\/a>
\n6-1<\/p>\n

Last Race
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