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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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Officiating Wins Bear’s Den Over Sloppy Gulfstream Track

Vegso Racing Stable's Officiating took advantage of a dream race scenario in Sunday's $75,000 Bear's Den, kicking in through the stretch to score by 3 ½ lengths over heavily favored Papetu after saving ground while tracking a contested pace.

The Bear's Den, a 7-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds, headlined Sunday's 10-race program that also featured the $60,000 Pembroke Park, a five-furlong overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Officiating, who is stakes-placed on turf, seemed to relish the sloppy track Sunday, when a heavy mid-afternoon shower forced the Bear's Den, scheduled for 7 ½ furlongs on turf, to be run on the main track at seven furlongs.

Officiating, who was ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, settled nicely on the backstretch a few lengths behind a solid pace set by Exchange Day and pressed by Dark Timber. The pacesetters were joined by Papetu, who made a three-wide sweep on the far turn. Dark Timber took the lead into the stretch off half-mile fractions of 22.46 and 45.31 seconds with Papetu looming boldly on the far outside. Eased off the rail for the stretch run, Officiating quickly accelerated and surged between Dark Timer and Papetu to grab the lead inside the 1/16th-pole with legs fresh enough to hold the favorite at bay and claim his first career stakes win.

Formerly trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Officiating ran seven furlongs in 1:23.11 in his third start for Joseph. Papetu, who won the Carry Back two starts back, finished second under Edgard Zayas, four lengths ahead of Dark Timber and jockey Edwin Gonzalez.

The Pembroke Park was also moved from the turf course to the main track, which posed no inconvenience to Golden Kernel Racing Stable's Yes I Am Free, who scored a narrow hard-fought victory and second success in as many starts on off going.

The Laura Cazares-trained Yes I Am Free also notched his first stakes victory since winning the Texas Glitter at five furlongs on turf at Gulfstream in February 2019.

The son of Uncaptured also benefitted from troubled trips that compromised graded-stakes winners Miles Ahead, the 2-1 favorite who trailed the field early after being bumped at the start, and Double Crown, who was forced to race very wide after breaking a step slowly from his far-outside post position.

Yes I Am Free chased early pacesetter Malroux before taking over the lead heading into the stretch with Double Crown on the attack to his outside. Double Crown's progress slowed in mid-stretch but Yes I Am Free was in the sights of rallying Man of Honor and Miles Ahead. The Florida-bred gelding responded to urging from Miguel Vasquez to win by a neck over a surging Miles Ahead, who had launched a very wide extended rally on the far turn. Man of Honor finished third, another neck back and a half-length ahead of Double Crown.

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Accredit Scores Upset With Gate-To-Wire Win In Dueling Grounds Derby

It was a day to be on the lead at Kentucky Downs, as another front runner came home the winner at the Franklin, Ky., track. Adventuring had won in near gate to wire fashion the race before, with Accredit doing much the same in the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Grounds Derby.

Breaking from post one, jockey Martin Garcia hustled Accredit to the lead, the field of ten other 3-year-old colts and geldings strung out behind him through the early part of the race. Behind him, Modern Science took up second with Yes This Time and Hillard rounding out the top four. Accredit controlled the pace throughout, setting fractions of :24.17, :49.03, and 1:14.31 over the first six furlongs. By the time the field reached the final bend, Accredit was three lengths in front.

Into the long Kentucky Downs stretch, the easy early pace allowed Accredit to hang on to front runner status, as Modern Science and Cellist made a run at him early in the straight. The son of Flatter had plenty in reserve, holding off those challengers and then a surging Yes This Time in the final sixteenth to win the Dueling Grounds Derby by a length. Yes This Time, Cellist, and Modern Science rounded out the top four.

The final time for the 1 5/16-miles was 2:10.58. Find this race's chart here.

Accredit paid $75.00, $28.80, and $12.20. Yes This Time paid $5.60 and $4.00. Cellist paid $3.60.

Bred in Kentucky by E. H. Beau Lane III, Accredit is out of the unraced Bernstein mare Berncredit. He is trained by Pavel Matejka, who also co-owns the colt with Bob Grayson, Jr. Accredit was a $60,000 RNA consigned by Beau Lane Bloodstock at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With his win in the Dueling Grounds Derby, the 3-year-old colt has three wins in seven lifetime starts for career earnings of $572,619.

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Echo Zulu Dominant In Spinaway At Saratoga

In only her second start, Echo Zulu added Grade 1 winner to her resume with a dominant win in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She battled with Benbang early, took over the lead on the far turn, and then dashed away to a four-length victory over a field of eight others to become 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner's first Grade 1 winner.

Echo Zulu and Benbang were away fastest, trading front runner status down the backstretch as they ran the first quarter in :22.07 and the half-mile in :44.73. Entering the final turn, Echo Zulu passed Benbang for the last time, with Tarabi taking over second as they entered the stretch.

In the Saratoga straight, Echo Zulu skipped away from the field with ease, powered down by jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. in the final sixteenth as Tarabi and then Saucy Lady T came home in second and third. The final time for the seven-furlong Spinaway was 1:22.51. Find this race's chart here.

Echo Zulu paid $3.30, $2.90, and $2.50. Tarabi paid $9.10 and $6.30. Saucy Lady T. paid $6.30.

“It was a huge jump. We prepared her like a first-time starter at Saratoga to run. She responded and ran well and that was a long time ago going five and a half against different horses. To jump from maidens to a Grade 1 off one run in a race with everything going your way is not easy. It takes a special horse to do it and maybe that's what she is,” trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race.

“She's nice. First time she won was impressive and she was training really well. We were happy with her,” Santana told the NYRA Press Office after the Spinaway. “I had so much confidence that I only wore two goggles for seven furlongs. She was working real nice and today she improved a lot.”

By Gun Runner out of the Grade 2 winning mare Letgomyecho (Menifee), the 2-year-old filly was bred in Kentucky by Betz, J. Betz, Burns, CHNNHK, Magers, and CoCo. She is owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, who purchased the filly for $300,000 from Betz Thoroughbreds at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her win in the Spinaway brings her to a perfect 2 for 2 with career earnings of $220,000.

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