Favorite Sorrento Sky rallies to win the Grade II Eddie D Stakes going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course Saturday at Santa Anita

FAVORITE SORRENTO SKY RALLIES TO WIN THE GRADE II EDDIE D STAKES GOING ABOUT 6 ½ FURLONGS ON THE HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

It’s the second straight Grade II win for the Irish-bred gelding Prince of Lir, who was ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Phil D’Amato

ARCADIA, CA (Sept. 26, 2026)—Favorite Sorrento Sky made it back-to-back Grade II wins Saturday at Santa Anita when rallying under Umberto Rispoli to win the $200,000 Eddie D Stakes going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, Sorrento Sky (2-1) prevailed by one length over second choice Sumter (3-1), who with Mike Smith aboard also came from off the pace to complete the exacta. Filly Amorita (11-1) finished another neck back in third after setting lively fractions of 21.99, 43.76 and 1:06.33 under Kazushi Kimura. Sorrento Sky’s winning time was 1:12.30.

“I was very confident going into today with the field we were facing,” Rispoli said. “This horse has been unbelievable since he was gelded a year ago. He’s a different horse. I was sitting seventh with a quarter of a mile to go and he gave me a kick that was so good. Absolutely a different horse now. Before he would be up front and when he was passed, he would quit on me.”

A 5-year-old gelding by Prince of Lir, Sorrento Sky was bred in Ireland where he made two starts as a 2-year-old before being imported to the U.S. in 2023 and joining the D’Amato barn. The Green Flash was his first-ever stakes win.

“He has really been a different horse since he’s been gelded and brought home the win today with a tremendous finish,” D’Amato said. “The strategy was to let Umberto do his thing. Umberto had him in the race and brought us home the win by pushing hard at the end.”

Sorrento Sky is owned by Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, McLean Racing Stables, Saul Gevertz, Marc Lantzman and Michael Nentwig. The win lifted his overall record to 22: 6-4-6 with more than $540,000 in earnings.

Sorrento Sky paid $6.20, $3.60 and $2.60. Sumter, trained by Richard Mandella, returned $3.40 and $3.00. Amorita, also trained by Mandella, paid $4.20.

GRADE II, EDDIE D STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

UMBERTO RISPOLI, SORRENTO SKY, WINNER: “He broke so good today. I was very confident going into today with the field we were facing. This horse has been unbelievable since he was gelded a year ago. He’s a different horse. I was sitting seventh with a quarter of a mile to go and he gave me a kick that was so good. Absolutely a different horse now. Before he would be up front and when he was passed, he would quit on me.”

TRAINER QUOTES

PHILIP D’AMATO, SORRENTO SKY, WINNER: “He has really been a different horse since he’s been gelded and brought home the win today with a tremendous finish. The strategy was to let Umberto (Rispoli) do his thing. Umberto had him in the race and brought us home the win by pushing hard at the end.”

OWNER QUOTES

MICHAEL NENTWIG, PART-OWNER, SORRENTO SKY, WINNER: “He loves Del Mar and he’s been a different horse since he’s been gelded. This was a good distance for him. We always thought that six or six and a half would be good, but you never know until they try it. It’s a team effort and I want to thank Phil, it was his idea to give the horse a break and geld him and try to get him over the top. He was a good horse before, but since he has been gelded he’s turned into a great horse, so I have to give him credit for that. “He broke sharp, he outbroke the field by two lengths, and we were hoping they would sit back. But he outbroke everybody else. I thought it was a pretty impressive race to break as good as he did, to shut off and be second to last, then come running again it kind of showed what we were hoping to see.”

NOTES: The winning owners are Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, McLean Racing Stables, Saul Gevertz, Marc Lantzman and Michael Nentwig.