DEL MAR -- There was only one question after Sunday's San Diego Handicap: What happened to Well Armed?
The Dubai World Cup winner was making his first start following his victory last spring in the Middle East and all conditions appeared to be on go -- until the 6-year-old gelding hit the three-quarters mark of the 1-mile race on the Polytrack.
In fourth place at that point, he began a steady decline to last in the field of eight as the 7-10 favorite. The race was won by Informed ($15) by a nose over Mast Track before 16,392 fans on-track at Del Mar. Informed earned a place in the Breeders' Cup Mile Dirt with the "Win and You're In" program if his connections decide to run.
Eoin Harty, Well Armed's trainer, looked like he had lost his best friend. It was a far cry from Harty's mood on Friday when his other barn star, Colonel John, won the Wickerr Stakes.
"This is a huge surprise," Harty said. "There are no excuses. He was in a good place, not going too fast, and then Aaron (Gryder, jockey) said he had nothing underneath him.
"We'll just have to see what the problem is. Maybe there's no problem at all."
Well Armed made a similar transition a year ago. He finished third in Dubai to Curlin, then won the San Diego and finished second in the Pacific Classic.
Another year older may have been the culprit for the winner of $5.1 million for Bill Casner's WinStar Farms LLC.
Even winning trainer Doug O'Neill had a surprised look on his face as he headed to the winner's circle.
"(Well Armed) was coming off Dubai and a layoff," said O'Neill, "but I really don't know. He'll be back."
Gryder certainly hopes that is the case.
"We're surely disappointed with this effort," the jockey said. "No, I don't think it was the Dubai bounce.
"Early on, I liked what was happening. He was up there in it, just like the Pacific Classic last year. On the backside, I asked him to move a little bit and he just never grabbed the bridle. I pushed on him, but it wasn't happening.
"By the time we hit the top of the stretch, the race was away from him. … I'm confident that we'll get him back and get it figured out, though. He'll be back."
Exactly where, Harty didn't want to venture a guess.
O'Neill knows where he will go next with Informed: the Sept. 6 $1 million Pacific Classic at 1 1/4-mile.
"I don't think distance is a question," O'Neill said. "He just needs a clean trip. This horse is getting more confident.
"I never expected this. Tyler (Baze, jockey) rode him with confidence into the first turn and got him out on the second turn. He had a great trip. This is so unexpected. It's an incredible feeling."
Working out
Two of the leading candidates for next Sunday's Clement Hirsch were on the track Sunday morning.
Zenyatta, the likely heavy favorite for the Grade I race, worked 5 furlongs in 1 minute.
Meanwhile, Life Is Sweet, owned by Rancho Santa Fe's Pam and Marty Wygod, worked the same distance in 57.60. It was the best work of the morning and maybe just a little too quick.
"That was a little faster than we wanted," Marty Wygod said. "She obviously likes the track, but we'll wait 48 hours and see how she comes out of the work."
Wygod had hoped to run in Sunday's San Diego Handicap, but Life Is Sweet was a little slow to come around on the Polytrack. Now, he is faced with the prospect of running against undefeated Zenyatta again. Both fillies are trained by John Shirreffs.
"Right now, we're hoping to run (in the Hirsch)," Wygod said.
Shirreffs told Del Mar media officials that Zenyatta's work was "perfect."
"She has the biggest stride I've ever seen," he said, "and then when she puts her head down, she stretches out even more. She's just a racing machine."
Open for business
Del Mar will be open on Monday to take simulcast betting from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and various other tracks around the nation.
This is the first summer Del Mar hasn't run a six-day week, which Saratoga also runs.
Gates open at 9:30 a.m. Wagering will be taken in the Plaza de Mexico area until Saratoga's last race is over.
Parking and admission are free.
Follow Del Mar on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ncthorseracing.
