He Is No Lie confronts Hughes, Kennyten in Best Pal

Just nailed in the June 28 Bashford Manor S. at Churchill Downs, He Is No Lie will try to use that experience to his advantage in Saturday’s $150,000 Best Pal (G3) at Del Mar.

The Doug O’Neill pupil is one of three Best Pal contenders who earned the “Rising Star” badge from Thoroughbred Daily News for their debut wins, along with Bob Baffert’s Hughes and Vladimir Cerin’s Kennyten. But He Is No Lie is the only entrant with two races under his belt. 

He Is No Lie was a flashy first-out winner, romping by eight lengths in a 4 1/2-furlong dash at Santa Anita. In the six-furlong Bashford Manor, he nearly gave freshman sire Early Voting his first stakes winner. He Is No Lie dueled hot favorite Hey Tuff Guy into submission and drew clear in midstretch, only to get headed at the wire by the rallying Blessed Flyer.

He Is No Lie figures to be tested by Hughes and Kennyten. Both showed plenty of early speed in their smashing debut victories at five furlongs.

Hughes hopes to extend Baffert’s dominance in the Best Pal. The Hall of Fame trainer has won this race 12 times, including the past four years in a row.

A $675,000 Keeneland September yearling by Into Mischief, Hughes rolled as the 3-5 favorite at Los Alamitos. His dam, K P Dreamin, placed in the 2019 Chandelier (G1) and Starlet (G1) as a juvenile.

Kennyten, from the first crop of Drain the Clock, has already upstaged one of Baffert's hotpots. Sent off as an 8-1 chance in his Santa Anita debut, Kennyten channeled his sire’s brilliance to draw 7 1/2 lengths clear of Nayar, Baffert’s 1-5 favorite. Kennyten’s final time of :56.99 wasn’t far off the five-furlong track record, :56.34. 

O’Neill’s other entrant, Phone Booth, is the only contender with racing experience over the track. The Reddam Racing homebred captured a state-restricted maiden in his career debut July 19. Like Hughes and Kennyten, the California-bred will step up from five to six furlongs in the Best Pal. But unlike them, Phone Booth is a stalking type, and as a full brother to 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby veteran Pavlovian, he is eligible to improve with time. 

Rounding out the six-horse field are a pair of first-time starters. You Want Some, a Volatile half-brother to stakes scorer Cyclone State, hails from the Peter Miller barn, while Brian Koriner sends out Jay Em Ess Stable’s homebred Icanthelpmyself, a son of Mo Town and Grade 2-placed Road Rager. 

The Best Pal is carded as the third race at 6:07 p.m. ET. Saturday’s featured Yellow Ribbon (G2) for turf distaffers, the eighth race, is slated for 8:50 p.m. ET.

The 1 1/16-mile Yellow Ribbon marks the local debut of Whiskey Decision, a recent recruit for Michael McCarthy. In her last outing for Chad Brown, the Into Mischief mare was runner-up in her title defense in the Eatontown (G3) at Monmouth Park. But her form was boosted when the Eatontown heroine, Gimme a Nother, came back to take the Beverly D. (G2), and the Eatontown third-placer, Grayosh, landed the Matchmaker (G3).

Also arriving from other circuits are Gallorette (G3) victress Warming, who plundered the 2025 Autumn Miss (G3) in her last West Coast swing for Graham Motion; Sweet Rebecca, successful in the Wasted Tears S. in her first try since switching to Mike Maker; Vincey Girl, in a turf experiment for Jose D’Angelo; and Vicki Oliver’s Princess Attitude.

The Mark Glatt-trained Take a Breath represents the best of the California form in the line-up. Fourth in last summer’s Del Mar Oaks (G1) in her U.S. premiere, the Bated Breath filly won this term’s Santa Ana (G3) and Royal Heroine (G3) prior to a third in the Gamely (G1).

Princesa Moche stretches back out from a rallying fourth in the Daisycutter H. Although O’Neill’s Peruvian import has spent the bulk of her time sprinting, she did prevail in the one-mile Megahertz (G3) in January. Trainer Phil D’Amato’s entrant, Innovative, has been scratched.