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Observed Ships In, Scores In Del Mar Juvenile Turf
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- Observed Ships In, Scores In Del Mar Juvenile Turf
Observed Ships In, Scores In Del Mar Juvenile Turf
An Eastern-based colt named Observed shipped to Del Mar for Saturday's Del Mar Juvenile Turf (G3) and came away a three-quarter length winner in the $101,500 contest.
The winner, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, and Robert V. LaPenta, made a nice move late and fired through the lane to get the job done. He wound up running the mile on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course in 1:36.40 to earn a first prize of $60,000. It was his second victory in his second start.
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The Mandaloun colt, trained by Jonathan Thomas, has earnings of $79,200. He was handled by Juan Hernandez, who was capturing his 10th stakes at the summer meet. The winner paid $15.40 to win.
Finishing second was the 7-5 favorite Shadow Nation. Off in the Corner was third in the field of eight.
Observed was bred in Kentucky by Hartwell Farm Inc. from the First Defence mare Overseen and was a $240,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He entered Saturday's race off a debut victory Aug. 4 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
DEL MAR JUVENILE TURF QUOTES
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Observed, winner) – "I spoke to the trainer and he told me that the horse was very smart. That I could do pretty much what I wanted to do with him. I watched the replay of his last race and saw they he broke sharply. But today he came away from there a step slow. But he was very professional about it all; he was relaxed all the way around. It worked out well."
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JONATHAN THOMAS (Observed, winner) – "We're really pleased with the result. As we thought there was going to be a lot of pace, we found ourselves a little farther back than ideal but I thought Juan (Hernandez) did a great job of sitting chilly and cool and waiting for a good seam. The horse had a lot of momentum and got the job done. He really polished the race off nicely. I'm really proud of him."
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on Sep 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
