Fighting Mad ‘Ran Them Off Their Feet’ In Del Mar’s Clement L. Hirsch

Gary and Mary West's homebred filly Fighting Mad bolted out of the gate to the lead Sunday in the $250,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes and then never looked back, outrunning five classy rivals to capture the first Grade I race of her career at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Abel Cedillo was aboard the 4-year-old daughter of New Year's Day as she covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.46 for her half-length tally. She is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“I had the same instructions today that I had yesterday (for his victory on Thousand Words for trainer Bob Baffert in the Shared Belief Stakes),” said Cedillo. “Get her out of there and see if you can get to the front. She really broke sharply and want to go right away. I got her to relax some on the backside, then she went right on with it. She's just an amazing filly.”

Finishing second in the filly-mare headliner was Paul or Karen Eggert's Ollie's Candy, who had won this race last year. Running third was Bo Hirsch's Ce Ce. Hirsch is the son of the man the race is named for.

Fighting Mad picked up a check for $150,000 for the win and moved her bankroll up to $444,008 after her fifth win in eight starts. As the 9-5 favorite, she paid $5.60, $3.00 and $2.20 across the board.

Because she took the Hirsch, Fighting Mad is now a “Win & You're In” Challenge Race winner, meaning she gets a guaranteed spot in this year's $2-million Breeders' Cup Distaff along with all her fees paid for the championship race. The nine-furlong crucible runs Saturday, November 7, at Keeneland in Lexington, KY.

Baffert and Cedillo won the Shared Belief Stakes with Thousand Words in a very similar scenario to the Hirsch. He, too, was quickly sent to the front and made every pole a winner. The pair also teamed earlier in the session with the Wests' Maximum Security to win the San Diego Handicap.

“I was a little bit worried about her because she was getting pretty warm in the paddock,” said Baffert. “But Abel (Cedillo) knows her pretty well and he knows speed is her weapon. To look at her you wouldn't think she could go (a distance), but when she started opening up, I figured he must know what he's doing. Basically, she ran them off their feet. The way she acted in the paddock, she ran an incredible race. She was trembling and sweating and I was worried, but once the race started she was pretty serious. ”

Earlier on the card, C T R Stables' Positivity, ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, withstood a claim of foul and won the $100,500 Graduation Stakes for 2-year-old California breds by half a length. The Paynter colt ran five and a half furlongs in 1:05.49 and picked up a winner's share of $57,000.

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Good With People made all the fractions in the race, but tired late and had to settle for second. KMN Racing's Scooby was third.

Positivity won his only other start – a straight maiden race at Santa Anita on May 22 – and now has $87,000 on his earnings ledger.

The victory for his trainer, Luis Mendez, was his second at Del Mar. Last year he won this same race with Big Returns via disqualification.

Positivity paid $13.20, $4.80 and $3.60 across the board.

Sunday's riding star was Van Dyke with three firsts. Flavien Prat and Juan Hernandez each won two races. Prat now leads the riders' standings with 18 first after 10 days of racing.

Racing returns to Del Mar Friday with first post at 2 p.m.

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Thousand Words Re-Enters Kentucky Derby Picture, Beating Honor A.P. In Shared Belief

Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words made every pole a winner Saturday in upsetting the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif. In the process, he may have bought himself a ticket to the 2020 Kentucky Derby, to be run on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.

The Pioneerof the Nile colt, ridden by Abel Cedillo and trained by Bob Baffert, took the lead right out of the gate and held off all challenges, including one from the 1-5 favorite Honor A.P. under Mike Smith. The latter was bumped from the outside coming out of the starting gate by Cezanne, a Baffert-trained stablemate of the winner who veered inwardly at the break under Flavien Prat.

The 1 1/16-mile feature went with only four runners when two of its 3-year-olds — Uncle Chuck and Anneau d'Or — were scratched Saturday morning.

“He (trainer Bob Baffert) just told me to warm him up real well, then get him out of there,” said Cedillo. “Then see what happens. He broke well and I saw I could take the lead, so I did. He was going along there steady, steady, steady. Then we got it done.”

“I told Abel (Cedillo) to jump him out of there and I thought he and Cezanne would be 1-2,” said Baffert. “Turning for home I could tell that Honor A.P. wasn't running like he usually does. Cezanne got really tired, but Thousand Words … I could tell when we got down here that he was a different horse from Los Alamitos and the real Thousand Words showed up today. His whole mind changed. His color has changed. He had soured out on me, but we got him going the right way. I think he earned his way to the Derby.”

With the victory, Thousand Words earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, and now ranks seventh on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard among potential runners, with 83 points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

Thousand Words covered the distance in 1:43.85 after setting fractions of :23.89, :47.93, 1:12.33 and 1:37.44. He returned $20.40 and $3.40. Honor A.P. returned $2.10 to place. There was no show betting.

John Sondereker's Kiss Today Goodbye finished third and Coolmore partners' Cezanne was fourth and last.

Thousand Words earned $60,000 for his tally and pushed his bankroll to $327,000, after winning his fourth race in his seventh start. Produced from the Pomeroy mare, Pomeroys Pistol, he was bred in Florida by Hardacre Farm and sold for $1 million by Brookdale Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The stakes win is the third of the meet for rider Cedillo, but his first in the Shared Belief. He now has five stakes wins at Del Mar.

As for Honor A.P., Mike Smith said: “He ran well, but we're disappointed he didn't win. I haven't been able to get on him in the mornings and I think that's made a difference. He's just been going along there not doing much in the mornings. I need to be on him and get more out of him. But that's the way it is now; that's just the way it is. This distance (mile and one-sixteenth) is too short for him, too. Just not his day.”

 

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Laura’s Light Wins Del Mar’s San Clemente As Heavy Favorite

Gary Barber's favored Laura's Light made the lead turning for home on the turf course, then held off the late charges of two rivals to tally by three-quarters of a length in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Laura's LIght's rider was Abel Cedillo, who wound up capturing three races on the afternoon's 11-race card, including the G2 San Diego Handicap aboard Maximum Security.

Laura's Light, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Constitution, covered the mile on the greensward in 1:34.16 and paid $4.40, $3.00 and $2.60 as the 6/5 favorite in the field of 10 runners. She earned $90,000 for the victory and now sports a bankroll of $304,370.

Trained by Peter Miller, Laura's Light was winning for the fifth time in seven career starts. She was coming off a hard-fought victory in the Honeymoon Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on May 30 — her second G3 win this year.

Both of the Grade 2 races run Saturday are considered key preps for Grade 1 races later in the meet – the $500,000 TVG Pacific Classic in the case of Maximum Security and the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks for Laura's Light. Each of those races will be run at Del Mar on August 22 as part of a five-stakes program and both winning trainers today gave indications that their charges would be pointed in that direction.

Earlier on the card in the $65,000 Smiling Tiger Overnight Stakes, MyRacehorse.com and Slam Dunk Racing's Vertical Threat outran three foes to score by five and a quarter lengths under Heriberto Figueroa.  The 3-year-old colt trained by Richard Baltas ran six furlongs in 1:10.47.

Racing resumes at Del Mar tomorrow with an 11-race card beginning at 2 p.m.

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Maximum Security Noses Out Midcourt In San Diego Handicap

Making his first start for trainer Bob Baffert, Gary and Mary West and Coolmore partners' Maximum Security – the 3-year-old male champion of 2019 and winner of the 2020 Saudi Cup last out on Feb. 29 – made a successful return to the races on Saturday, winning the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap by a nose over front-running Midcourt at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Ridden for the first time by Abel Cedillo – pinch hitting for regular rider Luis Saez – Maximum Security covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.54 carrying 127 pounds as the 2-5 favorite, conceding five pounds to Midcourt and third-place finisher Higher Power. Ax Man finished fourth, with Combatant last in the field of five older runners. Sharp Samurai was scratched.

Maximum Security broke sharply but was overtaken early by Midcourt and jockey Victor Espinoza rounding the first turn. Going into the backstretch, Flavien Prat and Higher Power moved up alongside and past Maximum Security, with the latter slipping back several lengths behind the front-running Midcourt.

Midcourt set fractions of :23.74, :46.87 and 1:11.40 for the first six furlongs while being chased by  Higher Power, with Cedillo urging Maximum Security to take on the pace-setter with just under a half mile to run.

The two horses separated from Higher Power at the top of the stretch, covering a mile in 1:37.91. In the final sixteenth, Maximum Security put his head in front, but Midcourt came back on approaching the wire, just missing.

Maximum Security was transferred to Baffert after the colt's former trainer, Jason Servis, was arrested on federal criminal charges stemming from an FBI investigation into doping of racehorses. The purse from the Saudi Cup was put on hold after the March 9 arrest of Servis, fellow trainer Jorge Navarro and more than two dozen others.

Maximum Security, a 4-year-old colt by New Year's Day who began his racing career in a $16,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Park in December 2018, has won nine of 11 starts, including the Grade 1 trio of the Florida Derby, Haskell Stakes and Cigar Mile. One of his two defeats came when he crossed the wire first in the G1 Kentucky Derby but was disqualified for causing interfering on the stretch turn.

 

 

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