DEL MAR, Calif. - Du Jour, the 5-year-old gelding, and Flavien Prat, one of the nation’s leading riders, were reunited for the first time in more than two years in Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Mile. The partnership performed like old friends in the $302,500 race on turf, Del Mar’s top one-mile turf race of the summer meeting. Prat positioned Du Jour on the inside until early stretch, and rallied with a wide move through the final furlong to record a comprehensive win. The win moved Du Jour closer to a potential start in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, an international race Prat said would suit the three-time stakes winner. :: Get Del Mar Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  “He’ll be competitive,” Prat predicted as he walked toward the jockey’s room. “He’s the best out here” in California. On Saturday, Du Jour ($10.20) finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of 9-5 favorite Exaulted, who did not have a clean trip through the final quarter-mile. From the start, Prat had Du Jour in a tracking position behind Exaulted, the winner of the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on May 29 in his last start. Turning into the stretch, Prat moved Du Jour off the rail and found a clear racing path. Juan Hernandez kept Exaulted on the inside and had his momentum interrupted while negotiating around a fading pacesetter in Sumter. “I had a good trip,” Prat said. “I was behind Exaulted, and I thought he was the horse to beat. I had a chance to tip out and got the jump on him.” Du Jour was timed in 1:33.82 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 102. Exaulted closed from fifth in the final furlong. “I had a little trouble at the quarter-pole,” Hernandez said. “When I got him clear, it was too late. The other horse got a jump on me. I wish I had a better trip.” Visitant (22-1) was always near the front behind 20-1 Sumter and held third. Irideo closed from last to finish fourth, followed by Twist, I’m A Gambler, Count Again, Balnikhov, War At Sea, and Sumter. Du Jour, who races for Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni and is trained by Jill’s husband Bob, has won 5 of 15 starts and earned $918,220. By Temple City, Du Jour finished a troubled sixth in the Shoemaker Mile, beaten 3 1/4 lengths. In the interim, Du Jour won the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf on July 23 when ridden by Hernandez. Du Jour won the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs in May 2021. Du Jour missed all of 2022 before returning to racing in February with a nose loss in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita. The Del Mar Mile was the first time Prat was aboard Du Jour since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita in December 2021. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.