On July 29, Doug O’Neill set a Del Mar Thoroughbred Club record with five trainer wins in a day and J. Paul Reddam tied a Del Mar record with three owner wins in a day. Vessels Stallion Farm stallion Square Eddie and San Luis Rey Training Center gelding Mr. Zippers helped contribute to those records.
“It was a great day for Paul. It was a great day for Doug. And it was a very good day for Square Eddie,” said Edward Freeman, who is Mr. Zippers’ trainer. “It was kind of a great day all around, and it was a good way for Paul to celebrate his birthday.”
Reddam’s actual 60th birthday was July 28, but Del Mar does not race on Tuesdays so the July 29 races were the first following his birthday. Reddam is perhaps better known for eating cookies than birthday cake; when his wife offers homemade cookies Reddam often replies with “I’ll have another” which was responsible for the name of one of his racehorses. I’ll Have Another won the 2012 Kentucky Derby, and while Square Eddie didn’t race in the Run for the Roses, his two-year-old season included a Grade I stakes win.
“He’s on his way to being the best stallion in California,” Freeman said. “It’s an exciting time.”
Hye I’m Jack won the first race July 29 to give O’Neill his first win of the day. San Luis Rey gelding Oil, who is trained by Peter Miller, finished second in that six-furlong contest.
O’Neill only had horses in five of the day’s eight races, so his horse who did not finish first July 29 finished second to give O’Neill the two top positions in the seventh race which set the one-day record. Reddam Racing had four horses in three different races July 29, so Reddam’s only non-winner was also in the same second race won by Mr. Zippers.
The second race was a six-furlong competition for maidens (horses who have not yet won a race) bred or sired in California. Cory Nakatani rode Mr. Zippers. “I thought he gave him a perfect ride,” Freeman said.
Seven horses contested that race. Where Was Eddie, Reddam’s other horse who is trained by Ben Cecil and was ridden by Mario Gutierrez, broke first while Mr. Zippers was second out of the starting gate. Where Was Eddie took 22.45 seconds for his first quarter mile and was in the lead, a length in front of second-place Worldwide. Mr. Zippers was fourth at that point, 2 1/2 lengths behind Where Was Eddie and a head in back of third-place Love My Bud.
Half a mile into the race Where Was Eddie still held the lead 46.02 seconds after the starting gate was opened. Where Was Eddie led Worldwide by a head while Worldwide had a 1 1/2-length lead over Mr. Zippers, who had moved into third.
Worldwide took the lead and entered the stretch 58.48 seconds into the race with a head lead over Where Was Eddie, who was a length in front of Mr. Zippers. Nakatani and Mr. Zippers would soon overtake Worldwide. “When he got off the rail and pulled it out, that was the key move,” Freeman said.
Mr. Zippers had a winning time of 1:11.48 and finished half a length in front of Worldwide.
“He wasn’t a surprise for us,” said Kevin Dickson, the farm manager at Vessels Stallion Farm.
Where Was Eddie finished third, a length behind Worldwide and 6 1/4 lengths ahead of fourth-place Sundar Drums, in his second career start.
Mr. Zippers was foaled out of Marquis Diamond in California on May 25, 2012. Where Was Eddie was sired by In Excess, who was a Vessels Stallion Farm horse, and foaled out of Teresa Ann on Feb. 12, 2012. Square Eddie was still racing when he began his stud career. “Eddie wasn’t available to cover,” Dickson said of how Where Was Eddie obtained his name.
(In Excess passed away on May 17, 2013, but sired his final crop of foals including Where Was Eddie in 2011.)
The third race was won by Jimmy Bouncer, who is trained by O’Neill and owned by Reddam. Jimmy Bouncer was sired by Square Eddie out of Meetmeinthewoods and foaled on Feb. 11, 2011. Jimmy Bouncer and Gutierrez won the five-furlong turf race in 56.34 seconds. Miller’s horse Tizcano finished second, three-quarters of a length behind Jimmy Bouncer and 2 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Clever Royal.
“Good job on the trainers’ part, both Freeman and Doug,” Dickson said. “They obviously did a remarkable job.”
Square Eddie, who was trained by O’Neill after being stabled in California, won three of his 18 races during his on-track career from 2008 to 2011. One of those wins was the Grade I Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity at the Keeneland Park (Lexington, Kentucky) track in 2008 when Square Eddie was a two-year-old and trained by John Best.
Tumbleweedprincess won the five-furlong fourth race to give O’Neill his third victory of the afternoon.
Land Over Sea is also owned by Reddam and trained by O’Neill. His victory in the fifth race, a one-mile competition on the turf for two-year-old fillies, allowed Reddam to tie the owner record and O’Neill to tie the trainer record.
In the seventh race Lookin for Money finished first with Housemaker finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner to give O’Neill first and second in the one-mile turf race for three-year-old fillies.
The day’s other two winning horses were Tatum’s Gold in the sixth race and Stain Adalbert in the eighth race. Reddam had those two horses on his Pick Six ticket as well as the four O’Neill horses.
“He finished it by cashing a Pick Six ticket as well,” Freeman said.
A total Pick Six pool of $3,154,097 was divided 34 ways, adding $57,658 of wagering winnings to Reddam’s $158,900 of owner earnings that day.
“The Reddam Racing machine is on a roll right now,” Dickson said.
Mr. Zippers is a full brother to More Complexity, a filly who as a three-year-old last year became the first San Luis Rey horse to win a stakes race at Del Mar’s fall Bing Crosby Season meet when she finished first in the Nov. 9 Betty Grable Stakes. Although the Betty Grable Stakes was run on Del Mar’s synthetic Polytrack surface which was torn out after the fall meet and replaced with dirt for the current summer meet, More Complexity’s most recent race was the Jan. 24 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint Stakes at Santa Anita Park and she finished third. “More Complexity is a much better grass horse,” Freeman said.
If Freeman finds a suitable grass race, he will try Mr. Zippers on the turf.
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