DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato’s stable was as hot as the Southern California weather for the final two weekends of the Del Mar meeting that ended on Sunday. On Aug. 31, D’Amato won three graded stakes on the same day for the first time in his career. Last Saturday, D’Amato won three races, including two stakes, and watched Vodka With a Twist lose a photo finish to Tenma in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante. “I was a nose away,” D’Amato said of another day with three stakes win. D’Amato’s stable was in peak form on a Saturday afternoon when temperatures reached 85, which may seem delightful for people in some parts of the country but is high for late summer in a beach town such as Del Mar. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. The three-win day was part of a resurgence for D’Amato’s stable in the second half of August and early days of September. Through Aug. 16, the 16th racing day of the 31-day season, D’Amato had eight wins and 14 seconds from 82 runners. In the final 15 days of the meeting, D’Amato won 13 races, and had 11 second-place runners from 65 starters. “I had a lot of seconds in the first half of the meeting,” D’Amato said. “A lot of those seconds turned to wins.” As was the case on Aug. 31, last Saturday’s three winners, and Vodka With a Twist, are bound for stakes in coming months. Saturday’s trio of wins were Iron Man Cal in a maiden race for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf, Thought Process in the $103,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, and Hang the Moon in an upset in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf for fillies and mares. Iron Man Cal is a candidate for the Grade 3 Zuma Beach Stakes, a $100,000 race for at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 6. Iron Man Cal closed from fourth to win Saturday’s race by 2 1/2 lengths. “I was impressed with Iron Man Cal and the way he kicked away late,” D’Amato said. Thought Process ($2.80) stalked the pace in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and took a two-length lead in early stretch. She won by the same margin for her second consecutive win at a mile on turf. D’Amato said he will take a wait-and-see approach whether to start Thought Process in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 6 or train the filly toward an expected start against an international field in the ultra-tough Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1. “I think she’ll tell us,” D’Amato said. “If she needs a race, we can go. I think Thought Process is the real deal with the way she won.” Vodka With a Twist led by 1 1/2 lengths in the stretch of the $301,000 Del Mar Debutante, but lost narrowly to Tenma, who gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record 11th win in the race. “She fought tooth and nail to hold off Bob’s horse and was a nose away,” D’Amato said. “She gave a nice gutsy performance. She was widest of all and got nailed.” Tenma and Vodka With a Twist are bound for the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 5, Baffert and D’Amato said on Sunday. Both trainers are optimistic that their fillies will excel at longer trips. Vodka With a Twist is by the Baffert-trained Thousand Words, a three-time stakes winner at 1 1/16 miles in 2019 and 2020. “That’s our plan, to stretch her out and see what she does,” D’Amato said. “I thought she galloped out as well as the winner. I think at two turns she’ll get a softer pace scenario.” The 20-1 win by Hang the Moon was a surprise to bettors, although D’Amato expected a bright performance despite the presence of the Grade 1 winners Anisette and Didia in the field. The Mabee was Hang the Moon’s third start for D’Amato. She won an allowance race at Santa Anita in June, and was second in the Osunitas Handicap in July. Hang the Moon closed from last to beat runner-up Anisette by a half-length with Didia in fourth by two lengths. The Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf for fillies and mares at Santa Anita is a goal for Hang the Moon, who won her first stakes in the Mabee. The winner of the $200,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2. As of Sunday morning at his barn, D’Amato was not thinking that far in advance. “She took a step forward,” he said. “We’re gradually taking it step-by-step.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.