cecil b. demille stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Verbal made the trip from New York to California a winning one, the son of Flintshire's stretch drive putting him on the wire first in the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

On the final day of the Bing Crosby season at the Del Mar, Calif., racetrack, the field of 10 broke evenly from the starting gate, Groovy Huey showing his head first with Get Back Goldie second as they approached the first turn. The two leaders put seven lengths between them and the field on the backstretch, with Barsabas third and Cabo Spirit in fourth.

Approaching the far turn, Get Back Goldie assumed the lead, with Barsabas and Cabo Spirit back in second and third as Groovy Huey fell out of contention. Jose Ortiz moved Verbal from midpack on the backstretch to fourth on the far turn, going four-wide into the stretch. Cabo Spirit took the lead in the stretch, with Barsabas and Verbal driving down the center of the track. The favored Verbal hit the front in the last strides before the wire, taking the G3 by a half-length. Barsabas was second, with Cabo Spirit third. Lottery Pick, Optimising, Derecho Dandy, Khantaro d'Oro, Stotland, Get Back Goldie, and Groovy Huey rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the one-mile Cecil B. DeMille was 1:36.16. Find this race's chart here.

Verbal paid $4.00, $3.20, and $2.60. Barsabas paid $31.20 and $12.80. Cabo Spirit paid $5.00.

“He won easy last time, but that was against maidens. He was running against winners today, much better horses. I knew there would be speed in the race so, even though I had the outside post, I was able to drop over and save some ground. He came running when it counted. The boss (trainer Chad Brown) knows how to spot a horse. He had it right today,” jockey Jose Ortiz told the Del Mar Press Office after the race.

“I liked the way he was coming into this race, he's been training well. It worked out like we thought. He's got a really good turn of foot and he got there. We didn't have much luck yesterday, but this is a really good start for today,” Juan Hernandez, assistant to trainer Chad Brown, said after the Cecil B. DeMille.

Bred in Kentucky by owner Juddmonte Farms, Verbal is out of the Bernardini mare Endless Chat. The G3 Cecil B. DeMille is Verbal's second win in two career starts for career earnings of $109,500.

The post Verbal Rallies To Win Cecil B. DeMille Stakes At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Del Mar's Bing Crosby Season #8 will come to a sweet close Sunday with a nine-race card topped by the Grade 1, $400,000 Matriarch Stakes.

Besides the filly and mare grass feature, there also will be the Grade 3, $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for 2-year-olds. The Matriarch has lured seven for its mile journey, while the DeMille has brought out 11 for its eight furlongs on the green.

The 15-day Crosby Season at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif., featured the 38th edition of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which established a new betting mark for the two-day, 14-race extravaganza. Additionally, the seaside track put on its own 13-day session climaxed by a seven-stakes, all on grass, four-day finish that puts a fine bow on a fine racing run.

Heading the 41st edition of the Matriarch – the last seven of which have been held at Del Mar – is Susan and John Moore's Princess Grace, a 4-year-old filly by the Japanese-bred stallion Karakontie who has won six of her eight lifetime starts, including a tally at Del Mar this past summer in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap. Trainer Michael Stidham sticks with Kent Desormeaux as her rider.

Princess Grace will have to have her running shoes on tight Sunday, though, with trainer Chad Brown having entered two of his mares in the test, including last year's winner Viadera.

The Matriarch will be seventh race on the Sunday card.

In the Cecil B. DeMille, which goes as Race 3, the horse to beat appears to be another Brown runner in Verbal, who has only made one starts, but it was a goodie. He won easily over a field of straight maidens at Belmont Park on October 10 at a mile on the grass and will have Jose Ortiz back again on board on Sunday.

Here are the full fields for both races from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Matriarch Stakes: Princess Grace (8/5); Calvin Nguyen's Bodhicitta (John Velazquez, 12-1); Juddmonte's Viadera (Flavien Prat, 5/2); Aoshiba Corporation's Fast Jet Court (Drayden Van Dyke, 20-1); Heider Family Stables' Zofelle (Umberto Rispoli, 5-1), and Peter Brant's Regal Glory (Jose Ortiz, 9/5).

Cecil B. DeMille Stakes: Red Baron Barn or Rancho Temescal's Optimising (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1); Merecado Racing's Khantaro d'Oro (Juan Hernandez, 12-1); Alvarez Racing Stables' Groovy Huey (Edwin Maldonado, 30-1); West Point Thoroughbreds or Barker's Derecho Dandy (Joe Bravo, 5-1); Drakos or Hanson's Barsabas (Tyler Baze, 12-1); Homme or DeMaio's Il Capitano (John Velazquez, 20-1); Kretz Racing's Cabo Spirit (Victor Espinoza, 6-1); Featherston, Lambert or Underhill, et al's Stotland (Kent Desormeaux, 30-1); Glenn Sorgenstein WC Racing and Great Friends Stable, et al's Get Back Goldie (Kyle Frey, 6-1); Verbal (5/2), and Exline-Border Racing, Wilson, et al's Lottery Pick (Flavien Prat, 8-1).

First post for the Sunday finale will be 12:30 p.m.

The post Princess Grace Favored In Del Mar’s Closing Day Matriarch appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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