A lot is needed to be a successful thoroughbred trainer. You must be good with the horses. You have to know how to handle different owners and media. You have to be good at organizing the dozens of employees needed to keep it running smoothly, and you have to get it all in order with your personal life.
Philip D’Amato seems to have found the right recipe, right from getting his son to his golf class on time. The 47-year-old Southern California native came to Del Mar in search of his fourth straight coach title won last fall, sharing it with Bob Baffert last summer and winning it outright in the fall of 2021.
On top of that, he won both training titles at Santa Anita this past winter and spring and he brought a herd of similar quality horses to Del Mar this summer.
“With Del Mar, great money and grass-court races are the premium thing here,” said D’Amato. “We always try to do our best here. You can tell through the deep fields it won’t be easy but we’ll shoot.”
He quickly made his mark in his first bets race by winning the meeting’s original bet, the $100,000 Caesars Sportsbook Oceanside Bet on Friday with Conclusion.
While D’Amato is more than just a field coach, he also delivers an impressive string of turf runners. He has won 11 graded bet races so far this year, nine on the field and one off the field. His list of winners is one from the turf department: Gold Phoenix, Macadamia, Count Again, Earls Rock and Hong Kong Harry. In the past, he’s taken on things like Going to Vegas, Going Global, Leggs Galore, Midnight Storm, Bowies Heroes, and Clear.
He has done an excellent job of finding suitable positions for all his stars with minimal interference. All the more impressive when you consider that there has been no grass training in Santa Anita or anywhere in Southern California from the time the horses left Del Mar in the fall until they returned in July.
“I think we are all on a level playing field,” D’Amato said of not being able to practice on the pitch in Santa Anita. “I think it helps horses glide across the grass but there are some horses where that doesn’t make a difference. You just have to know which one.”
D’Amato had his best year ever, in terms of earnings, in 2022. His horses raked in winnings of $11,954,300, the eighth-highest among coaches in the nation. He took 125 wins, 23 of which were graded bets, and his horses finished in the money 57% of the time. Many of them are mixed Irish. In fact, all six of his classified bet winners at last year’s Del Mar were from Ireland. D’Amato believes he will have a good mix again this year.
“I think I have a lot of good Irish crosses as well as Kentucky and Cal crosses,” says D’Amato. “We’ve got a nice balanced stable at Del Mar.”
D’Amato has been running at Del Mar since 2012 and he won’t be anywhere else for the summer.
“Definitely the change and the weather,” said D’Amato, “and the surroundings, you can’t beat it. Nice beach setting with cool breezes and lush turf. Lots of pluses.”
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If you have any questions, please contact the organization that produced the release.
