‘Mucho’ Tops 7 Saturday in Del Mar’s Solana Beach

By Mac McBride —-

George Krikorian’s homebred Mucho Unusual, who has been facing high-line graded stakes company for the past year, drops into a seemingly ideal spot against state-bred runners in Saturday’s $125,000 Solana Beach Stakes. Naturally, she figures to be a solid favorite in the filly-mare test at a mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Seven California-breds in all have entered the 27th edition of the Solana Beach, which goes as the 9th of 11 races on the weekend card.

Mucho Unusual is by the stallion Mucho Macho Man out of an Unusual Heat mare named Not Unusual, thus coming by her name readily enough. She’s run 14 times all told with 10 of those being stakes races and she’s registered four wins, three seconds and three thirds for earnings of $507,715. She won in open company last year at Del Mar at this same distance when she captured the Grade II San Clemente Stakes.
Subsequently, she ran in seven Grade I or Grade II stakes with a second and three thirds for her efforts.

Flavien Prat will handle the 4-year-old filly Saturday for trainer Tim Yakteen.

Here’s the Solana Beach lineup with riders and morning line odds:
Ruis Racing’s Sedamar (Brice Blanc, 5-1); Donnie Crevier’s Cordiality (Umberto Respoli, 3-1); Red Barons Barn or Rancho Temesca’s Big Sweep (Abel Cedillo, 5-1); Mucho Unusual (8/5); Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams’ Pulpit Rider (Juan Hernandez, 6-1); Brown Jr., Klein or Lebherz’s Smiling Shirlee (Victor Espinoza, 12-1), and Pamela Ziebarth’s Kitty Boom Boom (Mike Smith, 12-1).

Mucho Unusual’s chief threat may be her stablemate Cordiality, also trained by Yakteen. The 7-year-old mare by Papa Clem is already a winner at the meet, having captured the Osunitas Stakes on July 12, a race also run at eight furlongs on the lawn. Cordiality has won 11 times in 31 starts and shows a bankroll that reads $557,635. She won the Solana Beach in 2018 when she was trained by Mark Glatt.

Big Sweep, also bred by Krikorian, is a 3-year-old by Mr. Big who has only raced four times in her brief career, though she’s come away a winner in three of them. She tallied in the Fleet Treat Stakes for Cal-breds at seven furlongs on the main track on July 24. The Solana Beach will be her first outing on grass.

Sedamar, a Richard’s Kid filly bred by her owner and trained by Shelbe Ruis, has won four of 14 starts and $246,904. Twelve of her 14 outings – and virtually all of her wins and earnings – have come on the greensward.

First post for the Saturday card is 2 p.m.

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