DMTC News – From the Wire

Stable Notes July 25, 2026
By Jim Charvat —-

JOE HARPER TO STEP DOWN AS DEL MAR CEO AT THE END OF THE YEAR

It’s the end of era at Del Mar. After decades of leadership and innovation, Joe Harper has decided to step aside from his day-to-day role as Chief Executive Officer of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and into the role of CEO Emeritus at the end of the year.

Harper has provided Del Mar with impeccable leadership, turning the seaside oval into a world-class racetrack while never losing sight of the people who make the daily operation run smoothly. While he has maintained an office at Del Mar for over 50-years, he is often seen walking the grounds, interacting with employees who, if they’re lucky, will get a story out him.

He first came to Del Mar in 1977, beginning as the general manager. He oversaw the construction of a new state-of-the-art grandstand in 1992 and was instrumental in bringing the Breeders’ Cup to Del Mar in 2017. It was such a success, Breeders’ Cup has been back three more times.

Harper joined the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Board of Directors in 1986 and has been committed to the Thoroughbred racing industry and its equine health causes. The list of organizations he has been a part of is very impressive: The Jockey Club; the Federation of California Racing Associations; the Thoroughbred Racing Association; the Center for Equine Health at the University of California, Davis.

He’s also a member of the Advisory Board at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program and he’s a director of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

Through it all he has strengthened Del Mars’ position within the racing industry and built a culture of excellence, integrity and service. Ann Hall, executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer wrote, “The success we enjoy today is a direct reflection of his leadership.”

Josh Rubenstein, the acting President of Del Mar since 2018, has been chosen by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club board of directors as Harper’s replacement.

In Harper’s new role as CEO Emeritus he remains an active member of the Board of Directors and will continue to provide Del Mar with the guidance, knowledge and support the Del Mar family has thrived on for so many years.

JOURNALISM RETIRED, WILL STAND AT ASHFORD STUD IN 2027

Six days after his courageous win in the G2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar, Journalism has been retired from racing. The connections for the son of Curlin announced Friday morning that their star horse injured himself in the starting gate of last Saturday’s San Diego when he came out awkwardly at the break.

“He was leaning forward, then he took a step back just as they popped the gate,” jockey Umberto Rispoli said after the race. “He was away a little slow; I think he might have spotted those other horses maybe five or six lengths. But by the time we got to the first turn, I was comfortable. He had picked it up and I knew I had the horse under me.”

“It didn’t look like he was totally set,” trainer Michael McCarthy added about the incident at the start. “Looked like he kicked the doors a time or two. Looked like he had one foot in front of the other. When the doors opened he went to reset and it caused him to drop down. But Umberto (Rispoli) did a good job of getting him to recover and his class won out.”

Despite the injury Journalism displayed an impressive turn of foot and hit the front by the top of the lane. He had to hold off a late run by runner up Shea Brennan but he finished the race with the kind of class he has displayed throughout his career.

The injury was to soft tissue in a hind limb.

“It took a few days to rear its head,” McCarthy says. “To the human eye you wouldn’t be able to pick it up. The horse is sound to jog.”

Still, the connections chose to err on the side of caution and retire Journalism, noting the horse doesn’t owe them a thing.

Journalism first served notice in the fall of 2024 with an impressive maiden score at Del Mar. That was when McCarthy sensed he had a good one on his hands.

“I had a pretty good idea in the fall of his 2-year-old year,” McCarthy states. “He really started to turn the corner and act like a topnotch racehorse.”

That maiden score was the start of a four-race win streak. He followed with a win in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity to end his 2-year-old campaign and whet the appetite for a run on the Derby Trail. He opened 2025 with a win in the G2 San Felipe and punched his ticket to Kentucky with a victory in the Santa Anita Derby one month later.

It was the week leading up to the Derby that McCarthy will remember best of his time with Journalism.

“Just enjoying seeing people enjoy him,” McCarthy notes. “Their getting up close and personal type of stuff. It goes along with the Kentucky Derby. Knowing you got a horse in there that’s training like he could possibly win a race like the Derby. It’s a very good feeling. It’s a great experience to be a part of.”

Journalism’s bid for the roses came up short when Sovereignty ran him down in the stretch but, unlike Sovereignty, he returned two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes and won in dramatic style, overcoming all sorts of trouble at the top of the lane and winning late.

He would be the only horse to compete in all three Triple Crown races in 2025, falling short to Sovereignty again in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. But he returned five weeks later and took the G1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

McCarthy brought his star back to Southern California where he recuperated from his grueling campaign. By August, plans for the Breeders’ Cup were beginning to take shape and the connections decided to start with a prep in the $1 million G1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. There was no Sovereignty to contend with this time but he still wound up finishing second again, this time to Fierceness.

Journalism returned to Del Mar in the fall for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and ran fourth, the only time in his 14 starts that he finished out of the money. It was a wrap on a campaign that won him consideration for Horse of the Year honors but again he would finish behind Sovereignty in that race.

2026 began with a third-place finish in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap and another third in the G1 Met Mile at Saratoga before he won the San Diego last week.

Journalism ends his racing career with a record of 14-7-3-3 and earnings of $4,770,755. He’ll begin his stallion career at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky next year.

FORMIDABLE MAN, GOLD PHOENIX THROW IT DOWN IN G2 EDDIE READ

It will be a high-stakes showdown between two of the top grass horses on the grounds Sunday in the G2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar. Formidable Man will put his stellar Del Mar record on the line against Gold Phoenix, winner of the G2 Del Mar Handicap an unprecedented four times.

Formidable Man has run seven times at Del Mar and he’s won six of those races. He finished second in the other one which just so happened to be a Breeders’ Cup race. Five of his victories have been graded stakes including last year’s Eddie Read.

In his last race, his 2026 / 5-year-old debut, he won the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Memorial Day.

“The horse had a nice break,” trainer Michael McCarthy points out. “A nice freshening after the Breeders’ Cup. Did not miss a day. Did not miss a beat once he came back into training. He had a tight schedule, made six works. So to show up and run like he did off the bench to win a grade one, I thought it was exceptional.”

McCarthy has always liked what he’s seen of the son of City of Light.

“I thought he had a right to be a very nice horse,” McCarthy says. “He did everything right as a young horse. It just took him a little while to put some things together. I’m not going to say I was surprised the day he broke his maiden but I ran another horse that day who had trained well and he beat him on the wire. That kind of told me he was as good as I thought he could be.”

Some have suggested if you look up “horse for the course” in the dictionary you’ll see a picture of Formidable Man.

“I think ‘horse for the course’ is certainly part of it with him,” McCarthy notes. “But I don’t think he needs to take his course with him. He does fine at Santa Anita and we were second in the American Turf at Churchill.”

Which brings us to Gold Phoenix, an 8-year-old gelding who has won half of his 10 races at Del Mar over the years. Four of those came in the Del Mar Handicap dating back to 2022. He’s won the race every year since.

“He’s just a solid veteran,” trainer Philip D’Amato contends. “He knows what he’s doing. Sometimes the races are going to set up for him, sometimes they’re not. But he’s always going to try.”

D’Amato had waited until last week to decide whether or not to run Gold Phoenix in the Eddie Read, letting his workout on Sunday be the determining factor.

“He’s doing well and I think the Eddie Read is a good prep for the Del Mar Handicap,” D’Amato says. “After this race I can just take my time with him. I don’t have to train him so hard and have him ready to go for the handicap.”

There are a couple of other horses in the mile and an eighth Eddie Read that could make it more than a two-horse race. One is Gold Phoenix’ stablemate, Almendares, who finished second to Formidable Man in the Shoemaker Mile.

“He’s a versatile horse between a mile and a mile and an eighth,” D’Amato notes. “He can knock around with the best of them and he seems to always be there. He likes Del Mar. He won the Wickerr here last year. One day is going to be his day.”

Mondego is another one who could pull off an upset of the Eddie Read. He won the G2 Charles Whittingham at Santa Anita last out in May.

The 53rd running of the G2 Eddie Read is Race 9 on Sunday’s 11-race program. Probable post is 6 p.m.

Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Astronomer (Julien Leparoux, 20-1); Mondego (Esimael Jaramillo, 8-1); Cabo Spirit (Mike Smith, 12-1); Almendares (Antonio Fresu, 8-1); Gold Phoenix (Hector I. Berrios, 3-1); Stay Hot (Armando Ayuso, 10-1); Seal Team (Joel Rosario, 8-1); Formidable Man (John Velazquez, 7/5), and Mi Hermano Ramon (Juan Hernandez, 20-1).

JOCKEY KARAOKE RETURNS TO THE BELLY-UP SUNDAY NIGHT

It’s one of the most entertaining evenings of the Del Mar season and it doesn’t involve any horses. The annual Jockey Karaoke competition will be held Sunday night at the Belly-Up Tavern in Solana Beach. All proceeds benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Many of your favorite riders are expected to take the stage and sing their lungs out. Juan Hernandez, Antonio Fresu, Umberto Rispoli and Kyle Frey to name a few will join newcomers to the Del Mar jockey colony Joel Rosario, Joe Bravo and Julien Leparoux.

It’s a fun night for everyone and it’s for a good cause. Doors open at 6 p.m. The singing (???) and frolics begin at 8 p.m.

COOLING OUT: Trainer Edward Freeman says his filly She’s No Quant came out of the Fleet Treat “great” and “all’s well” the day after her victory. Freeman says they’re still pondering where to go next but he would like to get another race into her at Del Mar before the end of the meet…Depending on what happens at Saratoga today, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will be in line to win his 800th graded stakes race when he climbs aboard Formidable Man in the G2, $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar Sunday. Of his 14 stakes victories at Del Mar over the years, 11 have been graded stakes…Jockey Julien Leparoux scored his first victory of the new meet at Del Mar when he rode Balladeer to victory in Race 4 Friday. This is Leparoux’s first year riding fulltime at the seaside oval since 2013…Jockey Jose Valdivia returned to the races on Thursday when he rode Cagey Burglar in Race 7 for trainer Ryan Bratcher. It was his first race of 2026 following two shoulder surgeries designed to improve mobility. Valdivia will resume his comeback Sunday when he rides Refocus for trainer Peter Miller in Race 5…Notable works for Saturday: Dirt – Nysos (4f, :47.60); Grand Slam Smile (5f, 1:00.20), and Speedy Wilson (5f, :59.80). 185 horses put in official workouts on the main track Saturday morning.