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Astute Upsets Private Mission To Win Del Mar’s Desi Arnaz In A Romp

LNJ Foxwoods' Astute, a chestnut filly by sprint champion Speightstown who fetched $425,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale last year, had all of her speed Saturday at Del Mar as she ran away and hid from five rivals in the featured $100,500 Desi Arnaz Stakes at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.

Taking her cues from a pair of Hall of Famers — trainer Richard Mandella and rider Mike Smith – Astute went head-and-head with the odds-on favorite Private Mission through splits of :22.21 and :45.30 for the first half mile of the 6 1/2-furlong dash, shook that one off turning for home, then drew out to a sparkling 7 1/2-length tally in a final time of 1:17.28.

Finishing second was Saragol Stable Corp and Johana Viana's Queengol, a nose in front of Watson, Pegram and Weitman's Heels Up.

Astute was making only the second start of her career and her first in a stakes. She had won a straight maiden race on grass at Santa Anita last month in her debut.

“Wow, That's what I've got to say,” said Smith. “I knew she was good; I just didn't know she was this good. She was good on the grass the other day (winning a straight maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs), but she's even better on the dirt.”

“The owners and the manager — Alex Solis Jr. — told me before I ever saw her that she's special and it's kind of held true,” said Mandella. “She got a little sick on me in the summer and I had to give her a month off, so that's why she's a little late (starting her career). I only put her in the maiden turf (debut win on October 12 at Santa Anita) because I knew she could do turf and I was afraid a dirt race the next day wouldn't fill. I expected she'd run well today, but maybe not this well. We'll think about the Starlet.”

The Grade 1 Starlet over 1 1/16-miles at Los Alamitos will be run Dec. 5.

Astute paid $12.20, $5.40 and $5.20. Queengol returned $5.60 and $4.20, while Heels Up paid $6.00 for the show.

LNJ Foxwoods is the nom du course of Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth of Great Neck, N.Y. Mandella also trains the top grass horse United for the outfit.

Leading rider Abel Cedillo added a pair of winners to his totals after seven days of racing and now shows 12 firsts. Trainer Mandella won another race on the card and now has five firsts for the meet, second in the conditioner's standings to Peter Miller's six.

Racing resumes at Del Mar tomorrow starting at 12:30 p.m. with a nine-race card.

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Speightstown’s Astute Stays Undefeated for Mandella in Desi Arnaz

Astute debuted Oct. 12 on the Santa Anita lawn, going 5 1/2 furlongs and getting a neck win after leading throughout. The $425,000 Keeneland September yearling graduate skipped a few conditions to move straight to black-type company in the Desi Arnaz S. In addition to the jump in company, she was also switching over to the main track and upping the distance by a furlong.

Just like in her maiden, Astute went to the front, but this time she got headed by Private Mission (Into Mischief) to her inside after a :22.21 quarter and the foe had a head on her as the battle unfolded through the half in :45.30. Astute won the war, shaking clear with ease coming off the turn and simply drawing away, taking command with authority to win by 7 1/2 lengths.

“The owners and the manager–Alex Solis, Jr.–told me before I ever saw her that she’s special and it’s kind of held true,” said Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella. “She got a little sick on me in the summer and I had to give her a month off, so that’s why she’s a little late [starting her career]. I only put her in the maiden turf [debut win] because I knew she could do turf and I was afraid a dirt race the next day wouldn’t fill. I expected she’d run well today, but maybe not this well. We’ll think about the [GI] Starlet [S., Dec. 5 at Los Alamitos].”

Astute is the second black-type winner for her dam following 2015 GII Inside Information S. and 2014 GIII Go For Wand H. victress Classic Point. Discerning died in 2019, as did her Flatter foal that year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Saturday, Del Mar
DESI ARNAZ S., $100,500, Del Mar, 11-14, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.28, ft.
1–ASTUTE, 120, f, 2, by Speightstown
               1st Dam: Discerning, by Langfuhr
               2nd Dam: Clandestinely, by Forty Niner
               3rd Dam: Personal Business, by Private Account
($425,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-LNJ
Foxwoods; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella;
J-Mike E. Smith. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $93,000.
*1/2 to Classic Point (Flatter), MGSW, $685,794.
2–Queengol, 120, f, 2, Flashback–Nechez Dawn, by Indian
Charlie. ($22,000 Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $90,000 2yo ’20 OBSMAR).
O-Saragol Stable Corp. & Johana Viana; B-John R. Penn (KY);
T-John W. Sadler. $20,000.
3–Heels Up, 120, f, 2, Twirling Candy–Tale Untold, by Tale of
the Cat. ($17,000 RNA Wlg ’18 KEENOV; $65,000 Ylg ’19
KEESEP; $350,000 2yo ’20 OBSAPR). O-Karl Watson, Michael E.
Pegram, & Paul Weitman; B-Two Stamps Stables (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $12,000.
Margins: 7HF, NO, HF. Odds: 5.10, 5.70, 10.40.
Also Ran: Private Mission, Canoodling, Miss Costa Rica. Scratched: Plum Sexy, Varda.

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Baffert-Trained Private Mission Likely Favorite In Desi Arnaz

Charles Chu, a highly successful businessman from Massachusetts who manufactures global positioning systems (GPS), watched his wife Susan have great fun dabbling in the racing game a few years back. So he thought he'd give it a try, too. The first horse he bought was named Drefrong and all he did was win the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2016.

Since then the Chus, who originally hail from Taiwan and who race under the name Baoma Corporation, have gone in with both feet and by all reports are loving it. They now run their own breeding operation and have had fine success with that, too. But they also continue to buy and race horses, like a filly named Private Mission who'll carry their colors Saturday in the featured Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Private Mission was a $750,000 yearling purchase in 2019 who got off on the right foot with a win in her initial start at Santa Anita on October 12 for trainer Bob Baffert. That was a 6 1/2-furlong straight maiden test with Drayden Van Dyke up. For the Arnaz, the daughter of Into Mischief has been made the 9-5 morning line favorite and will have Van Dyke in the boot once again.

The Chus have entered another well-bred and high-priced ($700,000) runner in the Desi Arnaz – Varda, a first-out winner who then was stakes-placed behind star Princess Noor at Santa Anita most recently in the Chandelier Stakes on September 26. She, too, runs out of the Bob Baffert barn and the daughter of Distorted Humor will go postward at 6-1 in the morning line with Abel Cedillo riding.

The pair of bay fillies will take on six rivals in the sixth edition of the stakes, named for the band leader, actor and huge racing fan-owner-breeder who most famously teamed with his wife, Lucille Ball, to give us one of early television's most popular shows – “I Love Lucy.”

Here's the full field for the extended dash from the rail out with riders and odds:

C T R Stables and Wonderland Racing's Plum Sexy (Heriberto Figuero, 12-1); Private Mission; B-4 Farms' Canoodling (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); Varda; Saragol Stable Corp or Viana's Queengol (Juan Hernandez, 4-1); McClanahan, Carrol Boys Racing or Say's Miss Costa Rica (Flavien Prat, 10-1), LNJ Foxwoods' Astute (Mike Smith, 3-1), and Pegram, Watson and Weitman's Heels Up (Victor Espinoza, 8-1).

Astute, a $425,000 yearling by Speightstown, scored in her debut on October 12, a sprint on the grass against straight maidens at Santa Anita. She's conditioned by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella and has Hall of Famer Smith as her partner again.

Saturday's nine-race card is off and running at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The Arnaz goes as the 8th race on the program with an approximate off time of 4 p.m.

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