Joe Talamo threw his hat in the ring as far as who’s going to be leading rider this summer at Del Mar Thursday when he booted in five winners, including a brilliant performance by Irish-bred Obviously in the feature, a one-mile grass contest.

Obviously, owned by Fanticola and Scardino and trained by Mike Mitchell, took command early, set fast fractions and kept going in the stretch to win by five lengths in 1:32.41, missing the course record set by Three Valleys in 2005 by only twenty-hundredths of a second.

Racing Aptitude was second, a length in front of Thirtyfirststreet, with Bruce’s Dream, the 2-1 second choice, fourth. Key Decision, the lukewarm 9-5 favorite, was eased in the stretch after pressing the early pace.

Obviously, a four-year-old son of Choisir, returned $8.20, $4 and $3.20 after winning his fourth race in 14 starts. Racing Aptitude paid $5.60 and $3.60, while Thirtyfirststreet returned $3.80 to show.

Talamo increased his victory total for the season to 17 with his five-bagger, only one behind leading rider Garrett Gomez and tied for second with Rafael Bejarano. He swept the day’s first two races, on Beau Royale ($5.20) and The Roan Ranger ($6.40), nabbed the fifth on Indy Beauty ($12.60) and capped his big day with a win astride Northern Iowa ($12.60) in the nightcap.

Thursday’s attendance was 9,544.