Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grace Adler Crushes Debutante Foes; Liam’s Dove Upsets Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf

Willow Grace Farm or Michael Lund Petersen's Grace Adler came running late in the Grade 1 TVG Del Mar Debutante, then she went running right on by as she drew out to a galloping 11 1/4 length triumph in the 71st edition of Del Mar's foremost race for 2-year-old fillies at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif.

The daughter of Curlin stalked a rapid early pace, then made her move on the turn in the seven-furlong affair and showed her heels to her seven rivals. She was handled by meet-leading rider Flavien Prat, one of four winners he had on the afternoon.

Grace Adler, conditioned by Bob Baffert, earned $180,000 from the gross purse of $301,500, increasing her winnings to $222,000. She captured her only other start, a straight maiden race at Del Mar on July 31. Baffert, far and away Del Mar's leading trainer with 142 stakes wins, was taking down his 10th TVG Del Mar Debutante.

Finishing second was Red Baron's Barn or Rancho Temescal's Dance to the Music, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Calvin Nguyen's Bicameral.

Grace Adler returned $11.20, $4.80 and $4.20 for her score. Dance to the Music paid $5.00 and $4.20, while Bicameral returned $10.00 for the show.

Splits in the race were :21.78, :44.37, 1:10.75 with a final time of 1:23.76.

Earlier on the day's program, Gary Barber's Liam's Dove pulled off a shocker by leading from start to finish and hanging on for a head victory in the $103,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf under Kyle Frey.

The daughter of Liam's Map ran the one mile on the green in 1:36.65 and bested 10 other 2-year-old fillies in the 10th running of the race. She is trained by Peter Miller.

Finishing second was Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT or Nentwig, et al's Helens Well, the 3-1 race favorite, and third was Hronis Racing's Dolly May.

Liam's Dove, a maiden making the third start of her career, returned $71.80, $27.20 and $12.60 for her score. Helens Well paid $5.00 and $3.60, while Dolly May returned $5.60 to show.

Gary Barber's Liam's Dove and jockey Kyle Frey, right, hold off Helens Well (Flavien Prat) to win the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf

The victory was Miller's 24 of the stand on its 30th day of racing. He's the track's leading trainer and will be crowned its 2021 champion on Monday, his eighth overall at the shore oval.

Racing will conclude at Del Mar tomorrow, Labor Day Monday. There will be a $694,803 carryover in its Pick 6 Single Ticket Jackpot wager and a “mandatory” payout for the day. First post will be 1:30 p.m.

Post-race quotes:

FLAVIEN PRAT (Grace Adler, winner) – “No special instructions for me. Bob (trainer Baffert) just told me that she wasn't as fast as the other fillies, but that she'd come running. He was certainly right. It might have looked like I moved too early with her, but it was more a case of them coming back to me. We were going forward and they were coming back.”

BOB BAFFERT (Grace Adler, winner) “I wasn't happy with (Eda's) position early because they were going way too fast up front. Grace Adler is a really good filly and when she started to make her move (from sixth) you could tell by Trevor Denman's voice that she was really making up the ground. They're both good fillies, it's just too bad that (Eda) got caught up in a speed duel. It was set up for (Grace Adler).”

FRACTIONS: :21.78 :44.37 1:10.75 1:23.76

The stakes win was the 12th of the meet for rider Prat and his third in the TVG Del Mar Debutante. He now has 72 stakes wins at Del Mar, tied for 10th most all time.

The stakes win was the third of the meet for trainer Baffert and his 10th in the TVG Del Mar Debutante. He now has 142 stakes wins at Del Mar, the most of any trainer.

The winning owners are Willow Grace Farm and Michael Lund Petersen of Reisterstown, Md.

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Grace Adler Dominates in Del Mar Debutante

Willow Grace Farm and Michael Lund Petersen's Grace Adler (Curlin) swept to the lead with a powerful five-wide move into the stretch and pulled away effortlessly down the lane to win the

GI TVG Del Mar Debutante by 11 1/4 lengths at Del Mar Sunday. Favored Eda (Munnings) was pressed every step by Elm Drive (Mohaymen) through a quarter in :21.78 and a half in :44.37 as Grace Adler settled off the pace while running free and clear. She moved closer without being asked on the bend, ricocheted to the lead off the turn and, meeting no opposition, strode away powerfully down the lane for an authoritative victory.

The victory gave Bob Baffert his 10th win in the Del Mar Debutante. While the trainer was happy with the effort of Grace Adler, he admitted he knew stablemate Eda was in trouble as she battled on the hot early pace.

“I wasn't happy with [Eda's] position early because they were going way too fast up front,” Baffert said. “Grace Adler is a really good filly and when she started to make her move, you could tell by Trevor Denman's voice that she was really making up the ground. They're both good fillies, it's just too bad that Eda got caught up in a speed duel. It was set up for Grace Adler.”

Flavien Prat, who was riding his third Del Mar Debutante winner, said the race developed much as Baffert had predicted.

“Bob just told me that she wasn't as fast as the other fillies, but that she'd come running,” Prat said. “He was certainly right. It might have looked like I moved too early with her, but it was more a case of them coming back to me. We were going forward and they were coming back.”

Grace Adler was stretching out to seven furlongs Sunday after battling to a determined 3/4-length debut victory going five furlongs over the Del Mar track July 31.

Pedigree Notes:

Grace Adler is the 45th graded stakes winner for two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Her dam, Our Khrysty, won the 2010 GIII Turnback the Alarm H. and is a half-sister to GI Whitney S. winner Bullsbay (Tiznow). The mare, purchased by Blue Heaven Farm for $600,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton November sale, produced a colt by Into Mischief in 2020 and a filly by Uncle Mo this year before being bred back to War Front. Her Into Mischief colt RNA'd for $350,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale and is catalogued as hip 99 at the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Sunday, Del Mar
TVG DEL MAR DEBUTANTE S.-GI, $301,500, Del Mar, 9-5, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:23.76, ft.
1–GRACE ADLER, 120, f, 2, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Our Khrysty (GSW, $313,260), by Newfoundland
                2nd Dam: The Hess Express, by Lord Carson
                3rd Dam: Turcomedy, by Turkoman
   1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
   WIN. ($700,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Willow Grace Farm &
Michael Lund Petersen; B-Blue Heaven Farm (KY); T-Bob
Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$222,000. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk
Nick Rating: A.
2–Dance to the Music, 120, f, 2, by Maclean's Music
                1st Dam: Beautified, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Makeup Artist, by Dynaformer
                3rd Dam: Deux Anes (GB), by Longleat
($40,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $575,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Red
Baron's Barn LLC & Rancho Temescal LLC; B-George Kirkorian
(KY); T-Mark Glatt. $60,000.
3–Bicameral, 118, f, 2, by Constitution
                1st Dam: Humble Song, by Songandaprayer
                2nd Dam: Song of Africa, by Alzao
                3rd Dam: Intensive, by Sir Wiggle
($30,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $100,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $120,000
RNA 2yo '21 OBSAPR). O-Calvin Nguyen; B-Constitution
Syndicate & Dr. & Mrs. Charles H. Huber (KY); T-Richard Baltas.
$36,000.
Margins: 11 1/4, 2 3/4, HF. Odds: 4.60, 3.40, 28.30.
Also Ran: Myfavoritedaughter, Eda, Rock the Belles, Elm Drive, At the Spa. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Corniche Indicative Of Depth Of Baffert Juveniles

Smack in the middle of the two Grade 2 races on Saturday's program was a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint for 2-year-olds. And if racing fans were looking for a bridge of interest between the $200,000 John C. Mabee Stakes and the $250,000 Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby they got it.

Corniche, a $1.5 million purchase by Speedway Stables at the Ocala sale in April, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, drew clear shortly after the break from the gate; led by two lengths at the top of the stretch; extended the advantage via what the charts described as “an energetic hand ride” from jockey Mike Smith: and won by 4 ¼ lengths geared down in a time of 1:03.01

Speedway Stables is the nom du course of Peter Fluor of Houston, TX. His horse, Collected, won the 2017 TVG Pacific Classic.

Corniche was one of 33 2-year-olds Baffert nominated to Monday's $300,000 Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. But Saturday's race represented an impressive debut for the Quality Road colt. And Baffert will have two others who also were impressive debut winners earlier in the meeting as representatives, Pinehurst and Murray, when he seeks a 15th Futurity victory in the penultimate race of the summer meeting.

The nomination deadline for both the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity and today's $300,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante was June 25 this year. And Baffert, always with an abundance of talented babies, takes a shotgun approach when the paperwork is due.

“We have to do it early, so I nominate a lot of them and see which ones are ready when the time comes,” Baffert said this morning.

Murray, a son of Street Sense who commanded $300,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, debuted with a 10 ¼-length victory at 5 ½ furlongs in 1:04.20 on July 25. Pinehurst, a $385,000 purchase at the same sale and for the same ownership group – SF Racing, Starlight Racing and partners – won his career opener by a half-length, covering five furlongs in :58 flat.

Baffert said Corniche came out of his race in fine fettle and future assignments will be determined in a few days.

“I wasn't surprised, I expected it,” Baffert said of the Corniche effort. “He was flying early and he kept flying late. The Futurity was coming up a little too quick for him, but we're excited about him like we are about several others. This is a really good group of 2-year-olds.”

The field for the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity from the rail with jockeys and morning line odds in parentheses: Pappacap (Joe Bravo, 3-1); Olympic Legend (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 12-1); Finneus (Tiago Pereira, 12-1); Pinehurst (Mike Smith, 5/2); Murray (Flavien Prat, 2-1), and American Xperiment (Umberto Rispoli, 5/2).

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Pappacap Looking to Step Up in Del Mar Futurity

Having ascended through his conditions with aplomb, Pappacap (Gun Runner) hopes the trend continues in Monday's GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. A first-out winner going five panels at Gulfstream May 14, the Rustlewood Farm homebred came from just off the pace to make it two straight in the Aug. 7 GII Best Pal S. Joe Bravo, who was aboard last time, reunites with the Florida bred again here. Never one to be disregarded, on either coast, trainer Steve Asmussen is represented by

American Xperiment (Nyquist), who shipped to the West Coast this past week. He was supplemented for $10,000 after producing a rousing 5 1/4-length win in a 5 1/2-furlong off-turf test at the Spa July 30.

“He got here Tuesday, he arrived in good order and we're hoping he runs well,” said Asmussen assistant Sarah Campion, who traveled with the colt. “He broke his maiden impressively at Saratoga, so Steve decided to send him out.”

Also represented is Bob Baffert, who saddles two for this seven-furlong juvenile feature. Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) led through most of his five-furlong debut here Aug. 1, holding on for a 1/2-length score over stablemate Enbarr (Brody's Cause). Baffert also saddles Murray (Street Sense), who earned TDN Rising Star distinction when airing by 10 3/4 lengths in his debut at Del Mar July 25. Since that effort, the $300,000 KEESEP purchase has been producing fast works at Del Mar, including a five-furlong move in :59.80 Aug. 25 followed by a bullet six furlongs in 1:12.4 Aug. 31.

“They both broke their maidens here and they've both trained well since,” said Baffert, who has won the Futurity on 14 prior occasions.

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