Two fourth-place horses for Capestro in Bing Crosby Season opener

The California Horse Racing Board gave the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club a four-week fall meet, and in the first-ever race of the Bing Crosby Season meet November 7 San Luis Rey Training Center four-year-old filly Mango Reward placed fourth after entering the stretch second.

Paula Capestro, who trained Mango Reward, had two fourth-place finishes on Opening Day; four-year-old filly Clearly Anointed ran in the third race.

“It was fun to be there. We’d like to win it, but we just got outrun a little bit,” Capestro said of racing on Opening Day of the new fall meet.

“The meet is really nice. The track seems to be playing very fair. I’m very excited about the fact that they’re getting good crowds,” Capestro said. “The meet has been well-attended by locals, and I think they made every effort to make it nice.”

Del Mar had an attendance of 11,513 on the first day of the Bing Crosby Season meet. The Hollywood Park track closed after its 2013 fall meet and the CHRB assigned Hollywood Park’s dates to other tracks. In 2013 Hollywood Park drew 2,772 spectators to its fall meet opener. Del Mar’s attendance figures of 9,975 November 8 and 7,546 November 9 bettered not only Hollywood Park’s 2013 first-weekend totals but also the October 2014 Santa Anita Park attendance for the weekend prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

The first race was a one-mile competition for fillies and mares three years old and upward who had not previously broken their maiden (won a race). Mango Reward and jockey Tiago Pereira broke fourth among the seven horses. Mango Reward was third for most of the race, although at both half a mile and three-quarters of a mile she was a length behind Wild Caroline, who was a head in back of leader She’s Discreet.

She’s Discreet fell back to third by the beginning of the stretch, a head behind Mango Reward. Wild Caroline held a one-length lead over Mango Reward at that point.

Ann’s Gold and Diamond Flush both passed Mango Reward during the stretch. Mango Reward finished a nose in back of third-place Diamond Flush and 1 3/4 lengths behind winner Wild Caroline.

“She just came up a little bit short, but all in all it was a good run,” Capestro said. “We ran our race.”

The fourth-place finish was the highest ever for Mango Reward, who had three fifth-place finishes in her first five races. She earned $1,140 to bring her career winnings to $3,580. Capestro bred Mango Reward in Kentucky and also owns the filly.

Pereira also rode Clearly Anointed in the 6 1/2-furlong race for fillies and mares three years old and upward who had not won three races. They finished 7 3/4 lengths behind winner Warren’s Gussie and 1 1/4 lengths in back of third-place Jetbird.

Clearly Anointed, who was bred in California by Capestro and James and Richard Briere, is still partially owned by Capestro. She had won in two of her previous 17 starts, and the $1,260 she earned November 7 brought her career total to $37,270.

Clearly Anointed had run her four previous races at the Presque Isle Downs track in Pennsylvania. Three of those races, including an August 10 victory, were 6 1/2 furlongs. Clearly Anointed’s ten previous California races were on one-mile or 1 1/6-mile courses. Capestro prefers to run Clearly Anointed in one-mile races, but the condition book didn’t have any appropriate races of that distance so Capestro opted for the 6 1/2-furlong race. “We just thought that we’d take a shot at that,” she said.

Capestro and Pereira had another fourth-place finish November 9 when Blondy’s Reward, a three-year-old filly bred and owned by Capestro, crossed the finish line 7 3/4 lengths behind winner Siena Grace in the seven-furlong maiden race for fillies and mares three years old and upward.

“We were trying to track up the rail and follow the leader,” Capestro said. “There was no room there.”

Blondy’s Reward was fourth after a quarter-mile, sixth after a half-mile, and fourth entering the stretch.

“That was unfortunate, but otherwise everything else has gone pretty much as planned,” Capestro said. “All the other horses ran well but got beat.”

Blondy’s Reward finished third in her only previous race October 11 at Santa Anita. The $1,620 she earned in the fifth race November 9 increased her career earnings to $4,860.