Three Del Mar stakes winners head the full field of 10 that was entered this morning for Monday's 61st running of the grade II, $400,000 Del Mar Derby at 1 1/8 miles on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.All will carry 122 pounds. The Derby will be run as the eighth of 10 races.Headlining the field is Willow O Wisp, winner of the grade II, $150,000 La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 13 for trainer Vladimir Cerin. Oceanside Stakes division winners El Roblar, who finished third in the La Jolla, and Becrux figure to get a lot of fan support, also.Trainer Richard Mandella will be double-teaming Cerin's Willow O Wisp, who preceded his La Jolla triumph with a win in Hollywood Park's grade III Cinema Breeders' Cup Handicap, with El Roblar and Osidy. The latter defeated Willow O Wisp in Hollywood's grade III Will Rogers Handicap prior to finishing second in the Cinema.Adding something of an unknown to the field are High Limit, who earlier in the year won the Louisiana Derby (gr. II), was second in the Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I), finished 20th in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), and fifth in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and Tedo, a German-bred who has been competing in group races in Italy.Offering an interesting sidelight to the race is the presence of Shamoan, an Irish-bred who started as a grass runner and then went to the dirt, where he has done well in three races on what could be considered the secondary Derby trail. Trainer Eoin Harty oozed confidence when talking about the gelding's return to turf, on which he posted his maiden win at Santa Anita in his second start in this country for owners P.R. and Linda Laird. Of Shamoan's date in the Del Mar Derby, Harty said, "He's going to do well. He always runs his hardest, he always gives you 100 percent. I don't have any reason to think that he won't give 100% on Monday. He's trained well and he's come out of all of his races well."
The field for the Del Mar Derby, in post position order:
1--Positive Prize, Jon Court
2--Osidy, David Flores
3--El Roblar, Alex Solis
4--Eastern Sand, Victor Espinoza
5--High Limit, Edgar Prado
6--Willow O Wisp, Garrett Gomez
7--Tedo, Corey Nakatani
8--Orbits World, Kent Desormeaux
9--Becrux, Patrick Valenzuela
10--Shamoan, Jose Valdivia, Jr.
AE-- Legal Precedent, Martin Pedroza
AE--In Excelsis, Flores on second call
AE--Steal Your Thunder, Rene Douglas
