John Shirreffs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Beyond Brilliant Goes Gate To Wire In Hollywood Derby

Jockey Kent Desormeaux followed up victories in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup and the Cary Grant Stakes with a gate-to-wire winning ride on Beyond Brilliant in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

In a full field of 14, Desormeaux put Beyond Brilliant on the lead right out of the gate, setting early fractions of :23.96 and :49.23 as he strode out to a length and a half lead. On the far turn, Team Merchants challenged, shrinking Beyond Brilliant's lead to a half-length as the field hit the top of the stretch. The son of Twirling Candy repelled the challenge, increasing his lead to a length as Desormeaux set his mount down for the stretch drive.

Beyond Brilliant was clear of the field until the last sixteenth of the mile when Subconscious and then Santin came on with their final rallies for the lead, Santin shrinking Beyond Brilliant's lead down to a neck at the wire. Cathkin Peak (IRE) was third and Public Sector fourth.

The final time for the 1 1/8 miles over the firm turf was 1:48.84. Find this race's chart here.

Beyond Brilliant paid $23.80, $11.80, and $7.40. Santin paid $15.80 and $8.20. Cathkin Peak paid $4.60.

“All credit for this win goes to the barn. They've done wonders with this horse over the past month. When I rode him last time (October 31 at Santa Anita), he was a handful to control. Today he was easy. He was dry as a bone in the paddock and he was happy out on the racetrack. His mind was right. And he showed he can sprint that last part,” jockey Kent Desormeaux said after the race.

“This horse likes to be on the lead or close to the lead and obviously with a big field that's a good place to be. And Kent Desormeaux is riding great right now, isn't he? I'm gonna put Kent on more horses he's riding so well. I'm thankful for him doing it for us today,” trained John Shirreffs told the Del Mar Press Office after the Hollywood Derby.

Bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III, John D. Fielding, and Robert L. Tribbett, Beyond Brilliant is out of the First Defence mare Summer On the Lawn. The 3-year-old colt is owned by C R K Stable LLC. Consigned by Kings Equine, the son of Twirling Candy was purchased by Mayberry Farm for $200,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale. With his win in the G1 Hollywood Derby, Beyond Brilliant has three wins in nine starts in 2021 for career earnings of $381,280.

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‘Meaux’ Brilliance at Del Mar

Twenty-four hours after producing Say the Word (More Than Ready) from last to scoop the GII Hollywood Turf Cup, jockey Kent Desormeaux rode a perfect race from the front to upset Saturday's GI Hollywood Derby with the appropriately named Beyond Brilliant (Twirling Candy) for Lee Searing's C R K Stable and trainer John Shirreffs. Midwest shipper Santin (Distorted Humor) was given a peach of a ride from the 14 hole by Umberto Rispoli and was getting to the winner late, while Cathkin Peak (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}) checked in third.

Desormeaux has found a purple patch of form over the last week or so at the seaside oval, winning with eight of his mounts since Nov. 20, a streak that also included the $100,000 Cary Grant S. aboard longshot Principe Carlo (Coil) Nov. 21 and Friday's Turf Cup. A three-time Kentucky Derby winner, the Hall of Famer was winning his first Hollywood Derby Saturday.

Ridden positively from gate two, Beyond Brilliant had some token early pressure from Team Merchants (Nyquist), but was clearly in front with a circuit to travel and went through the opening couple of furlongs in :23.96. Desormeaux got Beyond Brilliant to switch off beautifully in the middle furlongs–the half was up in :49.23 and three-quarters in 1:13.62–and began to feel for his mount in earnest with 2 1/2 furlongs to travel. Asked to kick off the home corner, Beyond Brilliant pinched a bit of a break under energetic handling and covered his final eighth of a mile in :11.88 to score narrowly. Santin was able to sit a three-wide trip with cover for the opening seven furlongs, followed the move of the well-bet Subconscious (Tapit) while going better than that one into the lane and got to within a neck of the winner on the line. Cathkin Park parlayed an inside trip into a board placing.

A seven-length maiden winner going a mile on dirt at Santa Anita June 13, Beyond Brilliant was well-beaten in two subsequent tries on the main track, but–with Desormeaux in the irons for the first time–went gate to wire over this turf course Sept. 6. He was unable to make the lead from the 10 hole in the GII Twilight Derby in Arcadia Oct. 31, but fought on gamely to round out the triple beneath Subconscious and Cathkin Peak.

“All credit for this win goes to the barn,” Desormeaux said. “They've done wonders with this horse over the past month. When I rode him last time, he was a handful to control. Today he was easy. He was dry as a bone in the paddock and he was happy out on the racetrack. His mind was right. And he showed he can sprint that last part.”

Pedigree Notes:

Beyond Brilliant is the 33rd stakes winner, 13th graded winner and seventh Grade I winner, two of which have accomplished that feat on the grass.

The winner, whose half-brother Ainoa (Blame) was scheduled to compete in an allowance race on dirt at Hanshin Sunday afternoon (Japan time), is out of a winning half-sister to MGSW & GISP Summer Applause (Harlan's Holiday) and MSP Big Easy (Gulch). His third dam was responsible for the outstanding Chicago-based handicap horse of the late 1990s Recoup the Cash (Copelan). Barren to City of Light for 2020, Summer On the Lawn produced a Mitole filly this past February and was most recently covered by More Than Ready.

Saturday, Del Mar
HOLLYWOOD DERBY-GI, $404,500, Del Mar, 11-27, 3yo,
1 1/8mT, 1:48.84, fm.
1–BEYOND BRILLIANT, 122, c, 3, by Twirling Candy
1st Dam: Summer On the Lawn, by First Defence
2nd Dam: Summer Exhibition, by Royal Academy
3rd Dam: Dewan's Flag, by Dewan
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN,
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($50,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP; $200,000 2yo
'20 EASMAY). O-C R K Stable LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich III, John
Fielding & Robert L. Tribbett (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs;
J-Kent J. Desormeaux. $240,000. Lifetime Record: 9-3-2-2,
$381,280. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. **Triple Plus**
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Santin, 122, c, 3, Distorted Humor–Sentiero Italia, by
Medaglia d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE,
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Godolphin, LLC; B-Godolphin (KY);
T-Brendan P. Walsh. $80,000.
3–Cathkin Peak (Ire), 122, g, 3, Alhebayeb (Ire)–Drumcliffe
Dancer (Ire), by Footstepsinthesand (GB). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
(€0 RNA Wlg '18 GOFNOV; €17,000 Ylg '19 GOFSPT). O-CYBT,
Sterling Stables, LLC & Michael Nentwig; B-G. Kinch (IRE);
T-Philip D'Amato. $48,000.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, HD. Odds: 10.90, 17.70, 7.10.
Also Ran: Public Sector (GB), Subconscious, Zoffarelli (Ire), Flashiest, Sifting Sands (GB), Hudson Ridge, Camp Hope, It Can Be Done, Dicey Mo Chara (GB), Team Merchants, In Effect. Scratched: Airman.
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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Acclimate, Rockemperor Among Seven Entered For Friday’s Hollywood Turf Cup

Phil D'Amato-trained Acclimate, John Shirreff's Astronaut, and Chad Brown-conditioned Rockemperor, last seen at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., in the $4 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, are among seven entered today for Friday's $250,000 G2 Hollywood Turf Cup.

A victory, or high placing, for Acclimate, Astronaut, or Rockemperor, would salve the sting of ill-starred efforts in the Breeders' Cup, in the case of Astronaut and Rockemperor after gaining entry through “Win and You're In” victories.

Astronaut rallied in the stretch for a half-length victory in the Del Mar Handicap at odds of 24-1 on Pacific Classic Day in August. Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza found no clear path in the BC Turf, however, had to check hard before the quarter pole and finished 12th of 14. Rockemperor won the Turf Classic at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in October but was in tight quarters throughout in the BC Turf and finished eighth.

Acclimate, with one win and three narrow losses in graded events leading up to the BC Turf, was close to the pace early before fading to last.

The post position draw was scheduled this afternoon. The entrants, in alphabetical order: Acclimate (Ricky Gonzalez); Astronaut (Espinoza); Award Winner (Juan Hernandez); Cupid's Claws (Abel Cedillo); Friar's Road (Umberto Rispoli), Rockemperor (Flavien Prat), and Say The Word (Kent Desormeaux).

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Hard Not to Love To Gainesway/Whisper Hill

Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun–Loving Vindication, by Vindication), victorious in the 2019 GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita, was the latest mare to shine at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale Tuesday, selling to a partnership consisting of Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway for $3.2 million. The Ontario-bred, cataloged as hip 184, was consigned to the sale by Lane's End and is a half-sister to Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) and SW & GSP Solemn Tribute (Medaglia d'Oro). Her second dam is GSW/GISP Chimichurri (Elusive Quality). Hard Not to Love was trained by John Shirreffs for a partnership including Mercedes Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, Scott Dilworth and David Ingordo, among others. Hard Not to Love aborted her Curlin foal this year.

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