Gold Phoenix wins Eddie Read Stakes in photo finish at Del Mar

Gold Phoenix won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar by a nose on Sunday, getting to the wire first in a tight turf finish over Cabo Spirit with Formidable Man charging hard on the outside. The 8-year-old Ireland-bred gelding, ridden by Hector Berrios and trained by Philip D’Amato, survived a photo after a 1 1/8-mile test on the grass that went as Race 9 and carried a $251,500 purse.

The trip mattered as much as the talent. Gold Phoenix saved ground inside and closed from the back of the eight-horse pack before taking the lead in deep stretch, then had to cling on as Cabo Spirit ranged up alongside him and Formidable Man launched a late run outside. In a race this compact, the smallest edge in positioning became the entire difference between winning and chasing the photo.

That is what made the Eddie Read feel more like a statement about Del Mar’s turf hierarchy than a simple stakes result. Gold Phoenix entered as a previous Eddie Read winner, and Cabo Spirit and Formidable Man were both established names in the race’s recent buildup. None of them separated from the group by much, and that is the point: the West Coast turf division at Del Mar is crowded at the top, not dominated by one horse running away from the field.

Formidable Man’s rally was the sort that usually wins a lot of summer turf stakes, but he still needed more ground than the winner gave him. Cabo Spirit, meanwhile, was close enough to force the issue all the way to the wire, which is why the finish needed the camera and not the eye. When three accomplished grass horses finish that tightly grouped over 1 1/8 miles, the result says as much about the division as it does about the horse who gets the picture.

Gold Phoenix now leaves Del Mar with another major turf score, while Cabo Spirit and Formidable Man exit with their standing intact. The bigger takeaway is that Del Mar’s next graded turf race will not be a coronation for anyone already in this circle. It will be another test in a division that keeps proving how little separates the best of the West Coast grass runners.