Adare Manor, in search of her fifth consecutive win and fourth graded stakes score, was dispatched as the prohibitive 1-9 favorite in Sunday's $200,000 Zenyatta Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita and she certainly ran to the betting, coasting to a facile 5¼-length score under Juan Hernandez in gate-to-wire fashion.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Adare Manor covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.70 and will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 4 at the Arcadia, Calif. track.
Named in honor of North America's 2010 Horse of the Year, the Zenyatta is a key prep for the Distaff and is part of the Breeders' Cup “Dirt Dozen.”
Breaking sharply and in firm control throughout, Adare Manor had a 2½-length lead on Desert Dawn leaving the quarter pole, whereupon Hernandez took a peek back to his left and from there, the 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo widened away to victory while well within herself.
A winner of a pair of Grade 2 stakes here this past spring, the Santa Maria and the Santa Margarita, Adare Manor was most recently a one-length winner of the Clement L. Hirsch (G1) at Del Mar going Zenyatta distance on Aug. 5.
With no show wagering, she paid $2.20 for the win.
Owned by Michael Lund Petersen, Adare Manor, who is out of the Giant Gizmo mare Brooklynsway, picked up $120,000 for her effort, increasing her lifetime earnings to $981,600 from an overall race record of 13-7-4-0. She was bred in Kentucky by Town & Country Horse Farms LLC and Gary Broad, and sold to Donato Lannie for $375,000 at the OBS June Two-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale, where Julie Davis consigned her.
Consistent Arizona-bred Desert Dawn, trained by Phil D'Amato, was clearly second best on the day, finishing 6¼ lengths in front of Micro Share in third.
Fractions on the Zenyatta were 23.71, 47.91, 1:11.96, and 1:37.04.
ZENYATTA STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY JUAN HERNANDEZ, ADARE MANOR, WINNER: “Today all the credit goes to my filly, to Bob (Baffert) and his team they brought her ready. She broke a little slow the last couple of times, but today she broke on her own, I didn't even have to push her. She was just galloping around on the lead and I didn't do much today.”
TRAINER BOB BAFFERT, ADARE MANOR, WINNER: “She had been training really well. Morgan who gets on her in the morning said she couldn't get any better. She just keeps improving and we wanted to see something like this to see if we were going to take a crack at the Breeders' Cup. So I think if she comes out of it well, we will go for it.”
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