Peacock Family Holding's Senor Buscador came running late to pull off a $29 surprise in the 82nd edition of the Grade I2San Diego Handicap at Del Mar racetrack on Saturday.
Geovanni Franco rode the 5-year-old horse by Mineshaft who turned in a strong run on the outside in the lane to finish up 1 1/4 lengths to the good. The horse is trained by Todd Fincher, who was winning his first stakes race at Del Mar.
Finishing second in the Grade 2 feature was Reddam Racing's Slow Down Andy, while a length and three quarters farther back was pacesetter Brickyard Ride, who races for owner-breeder Alfred Pais. Defunded, the 4-5 favorite, finished fourth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths.
Final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.54 and the winner picked up $180,000 from the total purse of $302,000.
Senor Buscador was capturing his sixth victory in his 12th trip to the post. He now has banked $667,427.
The track's popular Pick Six wager carried over for the sixth straight day and will go into Sunday's “mandatory” payout session with $384,489 in the kitty to start the day.
The 11-race card means that the Pick Six wager will be held on the sixth through 11th races. First post for the afternoon is 2 p.m.
GEOVANNI FRANCO (Senor Buscador, winner) – “I had a really good trip. The trainer (Todd Fincher) told me he liked to be outside away from horses when it came time to run. So early on I had a good spot inside; they were all coming together and we just stayed back on the rail. Then on the backside I eased him out toward the middle and we were going easy. When I asked him at the three-eighths (pole), he just went. He really dug in. We got it done.”
TODD FINCHER (Senor Buscador, winner) – “I told him (Franco) to just let the horse do his thing, don't panic and start riding early. He's got one strong kick. He'll start picking them up at the half mile pole on his own. Wait as long as you can then push the button. He'll never do anything but fall back out of the gate so we needed a good set-up.”
FRACTIONS: :23.03 :46.30 1:10.36 1:35.95 1:42.54
The stakes win was the first of the meet for both the rider and the trainer. The stakes win was the sixth at Del Mar for rider Franco, but his first in the San Diego. The stakes win was the first ever at Del Mar for trainer Fincher.
The winning owner, Peacock Family Holdings, is headed by Joe Peacock of San Antonio, TX.
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