DEL MAR – Outside post positions were no place to be this summer in 1-mile turf races at Del Mar, but jockey Flavien Prat had no trouble Thursday on opening day of the track’s fall meeting.

Riding the 3-2 favorite King of Gosford ($5) in the $100,000 Let It Ride Stakes, Prat broke from the far outside in the field of 10. He was able to get within one path of the rail entering the first turn and then went three-wide around the far turn to take the lead before pulling away for a 2 1/4-length victory over Heart Headed in 1:34.76.

At this summer’s Del Mar meeting, just two of 56 horses who started from gates 10 and out at a mile on turf won.

“I was hopeful he would break well and go to the rail and that’s what happened,” Prat said. “After that it was very straightforward. ... Lucky everybody dropped in (nearing the first turn) and gave me a chance to save some ground.”

A British-bred son of Zoustar, King of Gosford won his first three American races earlier this year for trainer Phil D’Amato. He was winless in his next three, including two at Del Mar this summer, but he was a respectable third against older horses last month at Santa Anita.

King of Gosford was one of four favorites to win Thursday. For those curious how the main track played, horses stalking the pace won the two one-mile races and speed prevailed in the first two sprints before the winner of the final race rallied from last place.

Prat leaving town

After the Breeders’ Cup, don’t expect to see much of Prat at the Del Mar fall meet.

Prat, whose 19 wins (32 percent of his mounts) at Del Mar in fall 2023 were second to Juan Hernandez’s 21 (30 percent), said he’s “probably going to spend November on the East Coast” this year.

“I might go to Del Mar but just for a day or two,” Prat said last week.

Prat said then would resume his usual calendar, planning to again ride the early part of the Santa Anita winter season before going east.

Prat, second to Irad Ortiz Jr. among North American jockeys with $28.4 million in purse earnings in 2024, has rides in 12 of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, including Sierra Leone in the Classic on Saturday.

Scratch update

Pandora’s Gift was scratched from Saturday’s Filly & Mare Sprint, the second of Umberto Rispoli’s six mounts to be withdrawn. Earlier this week, Miss New York was taken out of the Distaff (as was Batucada). Pending additional scratches, those two races have the smallest fields of the Breeders’ Cup, with nine and eight, respectively.