DEL MAR, Calif. – Bill Mott had seen enough. Of Flightline. Of Life Is Good. So the prospect of having Speaker’s Corner run against Jackie’s Warrior on Saturday at Saratoga after facing those two heavyweights was the red line he would not cross with that colt. That’s one of the reasons Speaker’s Corner has been sent here to Del Mar for the Grade 2, $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes on Saturday. Speaker’s Corner will get some class relief, but still has to get past nine runners with the home-field advantage – including recent Grade 1 Bing Crosby winner American Theorem and 2020 Pat O’Brien winner C Z Rocket – in this seven-furlong race, which is a Win and You’re In toward the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 5 at Keeneland. :: DRF's Del Mar headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more Speaker’s Corner had rattled off three straight wins around one turn – including the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct – before he finished third in the Grade 1 Met Mile to Flightline and second to Life Is Good most recently in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud, both at Belmont Park. “We’ve already gone against Flightline and Life Is Good with Speaker’s Corner,” Mott said from Saratoga. “Figure the third-best horse is Jackie’s Warrior. We just ran into a couple of good horses. The Met Mile was subpar. He came out of it with a little bit of a foot issue. We weren’t as good as Life Is Good, plain and simple. Those two are very good.” Seven furlongs is right in the wheelhouse of Speaker’s Corner. He has won three times in four tries at that distance, with Life Is Good the only horse who has beaten him. Jose Ortiz and Junior Alvarado are the only two riders who have been on Speaker’s Corner in his 11 races, but with both committed to the stakes-filled Travers card at Saratoga on Saturday, Mike Smith will take over here. Speaker’s Corner and American Theorem are the co-highweights at 125 pounds. Everyone else carries 121. American Theorem scored the biggest victory of his career last time out, when he rallied to capture the Bing Crosby going six furlongs and earn a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. If he can double up in the Pat O’Brien, American Theorem would have a free roll into either the Sprint or the Dirt Mile. “We’re just going to take it day by day,” his trainer, George Papaprodromou, said at his Del Mar barn Thursday morning. “We shortened him up for the Bing Crosby, and he ran his race, but I think he can go further than that.” The Bing Crosby was the first Grade 1 win for Papaprodromou and elicited one of the signature moments of the meet, as he was captured by TVG in a moment of pure joy immediately after the race, flinging his program into the air as he descended the box seat steps. “It was fun,” he said. American Theorem and Get Her Number, who finished second in the Bing Crosby, earned career-best Beyer Speed Figures of 104 and 101, respectively, while benefitting from a track surface July 30 that appeared to markedly favor rally-wide runners while compromising those drawn inside. By contrast, Defunded ran an hour later on that card in the 1 1/16-mile San Diego and was stuck inside setting the pace in that Grade 2 race and understandably faded. He also was out of sorts in the paddock before the race. With better deportment and a fairer surface, Defunded has major bounce-back potential. Bob Baffert, who trains Defunded, also starts Laurel River, who came off a lengthy layoff to crush a second-level allowance field going a mile July 31 while earning a career-best Beyer Figure of 97. :: Visit the Del Mar Handicapping Store for Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Picks, Betting Strategies and more. Peter Miller also doubles up, with C Z Rocket joining stablemate Get Her Number. C Z Rocket won this race two years ago, then was second last year. Pointed to this meet, he returned from a six-month layoff July 23 to win an allowance race while overcoming a rail draw, which he must do again Saturday. Senor Buscador, making his third start following an absence of more than 16 months, also has a strong right to improve off his last race. He turns back to a sprint after going two turns in the San Diego. He is 2 for 2 around one turn and might in fact be best cast as a late-running sprinter. The Chosen Vron came off a nine-month layoff to finish a close third against California-breds in the California Dreamin on turf three weeks ago. He won a pair of sprint stakes at Santa Anita in the spring of 2021. Principe Carlo faded to fifth in the Bing Crosby after attending the pace. Restrainedvengence is winless in five starts since winning the Downs at Albuquerque Handicap in September 2021 while using Lasix. The Pat O’Brien, named for one of the co-founders of this track, is race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific.