Favorite Speed Boat Beach collared pacesetter Game Time at the quarter pole to lead in the $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille (G3) for 2-year-olds, then knuckled down when that rival fought back and held him off for a close win Sunday at Del Mar.
Under Flavien Prat, who won the 2018 edition of the race with Flying Scotsman, Speed Boat Beach pressed outside of Game Time, who set swift fractions of :22.82, :47.30, and 1:12.08 for six furlongs in the one-mile turf test. On cue, Speed Boat Beach smartly rallied and headed the front-runner with a quarter mile to run. Game Time, dug in for Umberto Rispoli and re-engaged Speed Boat Beach in the final furlong, but the winner proved too strong and scored by a half length.
Speed Boat Beach finished the trip in 1:35.38 on a firm course. He returned $5.40.
First Peace was third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Game Time.
Speed Boat Beach, a Florida-bred Bayern colt, rebounded with aplomb from a ninth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 4 at Keeneland, which followed triumphs in the Speakeasy Stakes Oct. 2 at Santa Anita and his track-record-setting maiden debut Sept. 10 at Del Mar (5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01.86). His career line stands at 3-0-0 from four starts and earnings of $178,000.
Campaigned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, who bought him from consignor Really and Truly Thoroughbreds for $200,000 at the OBS March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, Speed Boat Beach was bred by Caperlane Farm from the Pioneerof the Nile mare Sophia Mia.
Prat, who won five races on the card, also won the Matriarch (G1) with Regal Glory.
CECIL B. DeMILLE STAKES (G3) QUOTES
JOCKEY FLAVIEN PRAT (Speed Boat Beach, winner ) – “He broke well and I thought I was going to be on the lead. But Umberto (Rispoli on Game Time) wanted to go, so we were fine running second. My horse was relaxed and that's what I wanted. When it came time, he went about his business. Two turns, no problem today. Good race for him.”
TRAINER BOB BAFFERT (Speed Boat Beach, winner) – “I liked the way he relaxed and (yet) he has the speed. For a horse that can go from a five and a half track record and then win going a mile on the turf, that's a pretty good race horse and he's going to get better with age. So we'll just pick our spots with him. Just have fun with him.”
The post ‘Two Turns, No Problem Today’: Speed Boat Beach Proves Best In Del Mar’s Cecil B. DeMille appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
