Sorrento Stakes winner Holmby will lead a 10-horse field in the Grade I Del Mar Debutante on Sunday, Sept. 6. The seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies anchors closing weekend of Del Mar's 87th summer meet.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Debutante 12 times including the past two renewals, will send out two entries, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Holmby will be ridden by Ricardo Gonzalez, a switch from Juan Hernandez, who rode the filly in the Sorrento. Hernandez picks up Baffert's second entry, Miss Monica.
Holmby is unbeaten in two starts at Del Mar. The chestnut filly, owned by Michael Talla's By Talla Racing, won her debut on July 18 by more than two lengths, then took the Grade III Sorrento Stakes on Aug. 9, covering six furlongs in 1:10.73 and edging runner-up Ruiva by a neck as the 4-5 favorite.
"She was very game," Baffert said after the Sorrento. "I like the way she sat off the pace and ran down a really nice filly."
Holmby is a daughter of Corniche, a Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner that Baffert trained. The Debutante carries "Win and You're In" status for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland in late October, according to Del Mar stable notes. The stakes are high.
Miss Monica, a daughter of Early Voting, broke her maiden at Del Mar on Aug. 9 in her only start. She earned a speed figure of 113 from Horse Racing Nation.
The field includes several out-of-town challengers. Panda Listen, trained by Brendan Walsh with Kazushi Kimura aboard, enters off a win in the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes with a speed figure of 121. Dear Diary draws jockey Mike Smith for trainer Richard Mandella. Crazy Hot Mess, trained by local conditioner Peter Miller, finished third behind Holmby in the Sorrento and gets Joel Rosario for the rematch.
The remaining entries are Avalon Rose (Robert Hess Jr./Julien Leparoux), Free Closer (Michael McCarthy/Umberto Rispoli), For The Win (George Weaver/Emisael Jaramillo), Well Versed (Richard Mandella/Tyler Baze) and Fast Amy (Brendan Walsh/Hector Berrios).
Baffert holds a record 193 stakes wins at Del Mar. Hernandez and Baffert have teamed to win three straight Sorrentos and four of the last five Best Pals, the Orange County Register reported.
The Debutante goes to post Sunday, Sept. 6. The Grade I Del Mar Futurity for 2-year-olds closes the summer meet on Monday, Sept. 7.







