Coming off her only career loss in a hard-fought race against Malathaat in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Search Results dropped back to a one-turn mile for trainer Chad Brown and responded with her first Grade 1 triumph in Saturday's Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
The 3-year-old filly by Flatter was ridden to victory by Javier Castellano, named as a substitute for the injured Irad Ortiz Jr., who was involved in a spill on Thursday and will be out about two weeks. Search Results was the fourth winner in the first five races on the Belmont Stakes card that Ortiz had been named to ride, including Drain the Clock in the G1 Woody Stephen Stakes.
“I was at the right place at the right time,” said Castellano. “I was very fortunate to [get the mount from injured Irad Ortiz, Jr.]. I'm thankful to Chad Brown for the opportunity to ride this horse; we've had a lot of success in the past. I'm sorry for Irad Ortiz that he got hurt, but it gave me the opportunity to ride.”
Sent off the 4-5 favorite, Search Results paid $3.80 to win after running the one-mile in 1:35.50 on a track rated fast but which had taken on considerable rainfall Friday afternoon.
Juddmonte's Obligatory, coming off a last-to-first victory in the G2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs on the same day that Search Results ran second in the Kentucky Oaks, finished a fast-closing second for trainer Brad Cox, falling a half-length short. Make Mischief, third in the Eight Belles, finished a length back in third, with Eight Belles runner-up Dayoutoftheoffice fourth – beaten a nose for third – after setting the pace. Travel Column rounded out the order of finish for the five 3-year-old fillies contesting a race first run in 1931.Miss Brazil was scratched.
This was Brown's second Acorn victory, having won the 2019 running with Guarana.
“I'm just so proud of her to come back in five weeks after a real dog fight with Malathaat,” said Brown. “To bounce right back and lay it on the line again, this filly has so much talent and so much heart. She's a very rare kind of horse to have, and we're so lucky to have her.”
Search Results was bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, which consigned the filly to the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as part of the Select Sales consignment. She was purchased for $310,000 by Mike Ryan, agent, on behalf of Klaravich Stables owner Seth Klarman.
Dayoutoftheoffice jumped out to the early advantage in the long run down the Belmont backstretch, leading through an opening quarter mile in :23.50 and a half mile in :47.23. Make Mischief sat to her outside, with Search Results racing three wide into the far turn and just behind the top two. Obligatory, ridden by Jose Ortiz, lagged at the back of the field, never more than five lengths behind the leader.
Into the stretch, after six furlongs in 1:11.00, Search Results drew up alongside Dayoutoftheoffice, and gradually eased past that filly while Make Mischief fought to keep pace with the eventual winner. In the final sixteenth of a mile, with Search Result's victory seemingly assured, Obligatory came roaring down the outside and tried to make a race of a it, falling a half-length short at the wire.
“The pace wasn't fast but she was right there,” said Castellano. “That's the good thing about her. You can put her where you want. You can be a little closer to the pace or you can be a little bit off the pace. I don't think she's a difficult horse to manage. She's very easy and straightforward. I'm just lucky I had the opportunity to ride her.”
Obligatory's rider, Jose Ortiz, said of the filly by Curlin: “She ran huge. The pace was a lot slower today and when they started running at the three-eighths pole, they got the jump on me. It was very hard to keep her engaged with them, but she made a good run down the lane.”
The win was the fourth in five career starts for Search Results, who debuted at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 3, winning a six-furlong maiden race by four lengths. She shipped to New York to win the Busher Invitational on March 6, then won Aqueduct's G3 Gazelle by 2 3/4 lengths. She got a good trip under Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Kentucky Oaks, but came up a neck short of the Todd Pletcher-trained Curlin filly Malathaat in a battle of the unbeatens.
Search Results is by Flatter, a stakes-placed A.P. Indy stallion who stands at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where his 2021 fee was $35,000. The Acorn winner was produced from Co Cola, a Todd Pletcher-trained stakes-place filly by Candy Ride. Search Results come from the family of Canadian champion Kimchi and G1 winner Mind Your Biscuit, now standing at stud in Japan.
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