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Viadera Noses Out Stablemate Blowout To Give Chad Brown Another Grade 1 In Matriarch

Trainer Chad Brown has a reputation as an excellent trainer, a superior grass horse trainer and a very special trainer of fillies and mares.

If you need testimony on that, ask the folks at Del Mar.

The New York-based conditioner competed in five of the seven Graded stakes the seashore track offered during Thanksgiving weekend and he won four of them, running second in the other. On Sunday – closing day of the shore track's seventh Bing Crosby Season — he completed his latest tour de force by capturing the Matriarch Stakes with Juddmonte Farms' homebred filly Viadera, who beat stablemate Blowout, owned by Peter Brant, by a whisker in a four-horse blanket finish.

It was the fourth time Brown had captured the $301,500 Grade 1 headliner for fillies and mares and his charge did it with elan this time. The daughter of the British stallion Bated Breath skipped the mile over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course in a stakes record 1:33.03, which shattered the former mark by more than a second.

Finishing third in the distaff crucible was Juddmonte Farms other entrant, Juliet Foxtrot.

Joel Rosario rode Viadera for his fourth Matriarch score. Blowout, under Flavien Prat, had half a length on Juliet Foxtrot and Mike Smith, who in turn had a neck on fourth-place finisher Sharing, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable and ridden by Manny Franco.

“Whew. I had to work for that one,” said Rosario. “She's a good filly, a really good filly. But she makes you work. I had to stay after her. She can run, though, there's no doubt. I'm lucky that Chad Brown gives me an opportunity like this. Grass horses and especially fillies. He's the best.”

The winner paid $12.80, $5.80 and $3.80 across the board. Blowout returned $5.60 and $3.80, while Juliet Foxtrot paid $4.80.

Viadera earned a first prize of $180,000 and moved her earning up to $391,441. She has now won six of 13 lifetime starts, the last three in stakes.

Previously this weekend, Brown had captured the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap here on Thursday with the filly Orglandes; the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes with Fluffy Sox and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby with Domestic Spending, both on Saturday. His second-place finish came Saturday with Flavius, beaten three-quarters of a length by Count Again in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap.

Brown now has 12 stakes wins at Del Mar, nine of them of the Grade 1 variety.

“This weekend has been amazing,” said Brown's assistant, Jose Hernandez. “I didn't know which filly (of the stablemates) was the winner, but I'm happy it turned out to be Viadera. My boss Chad Brown is an amazing trainer and I just do my best for him. It's an amazing job for me and I love the horses. In the future, I don't know when it would be, if Chad wanted to come out here with a string, I'd like that. We like it out here.”

The Sunday 10-race card drew the curtain on a banner fall meeting for the seaside oval that saw fully safe racing and a remarkable handle rise of over 30% during the 15-day stand.

Racing will resume at Del Mar next July when the track presents its 82nd summer season, followed by its second hosting of the Breeders' Cup Championships next November.

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Beer Can Man Ready For His Close-Up After Cecil B. DeMille Victory

The 2-year-old colt Beer Can Man made his West Coast debut a winning one when he tracked the leaders early, then fired late to capture the seventh edition of the $103,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes Sunday at Del Mar.

The bay son of Can the Man scored by half a length under rider Juan Hernandez in the mile on turf run in 1:34.75. He had been competing at Indiana Downs in the Midwest where he'd won two of four starts, but was purchased privately and shipped to the barn of local trainer Mark Glatt.

Beer Can Man is now owned by the racing group called Little Red Feather Racing with their partner Sterling Stables. He picked up $60,000 as his share of the winning purse in the Grade 3 feature and now has a bankroll that reads $100,580.

Finishing second in the juvenile grass test was Sarah Kelly's Caisson and running third was Nguyen or Tran's Commander Khai.

“One jump out of there he came (back) to me,” said Hernandez. “He settled real well. I just found me spot tracking the leaders and I was happy. At the quarter pole I asked him to go and he did. He really fired. He didn't want to let horses go past him, either. He's a nice horse.”

The winner, an outsider in the 11-horse lineup, returned $41.20, $14.80 and $10.60 across the board. Caisson paid $6.20 and $7.20 and Commandeer Khai returned $10.40 to show.

“We've had him about six weeks,” said Glatt. “We entered him the first weekend of the meeting, thinking we could run then and then come back in this race. But that race didn't go. So (the owners) told me to get him ready to go a mile. I was a little skeptical to be honest, but the horse relaxed great, Juan (Hernandez) put a nice ride on him and he got the money.”

The stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Hernandez, but his first in the Cecil B. DeMille. He now has seven stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Glatt and his first in the Cecil B. DeMille. He now has 11 stakes wins at Del Mar.

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Share The Ride Wins Fall Highweight Handicap After Quick Turnaround

A quick turnaround was no issue for Share the Ride, who outdueled Tribecca down the lane before kicking clear to a three-quarter length win in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Antonio Arriaga for owner Silvino Ramirez, the son of Candy Ride ran just 11 days ago, where he bested six others in a seven-furlong allowance at Parx by 7 ½ lengths, garnering a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Breaking from post 5 in the seven-horse field, jockey Jose Ortiz hustled Share the Ride through the first few strides out of the gate and secured his mount a path to the outside as Tribecca dictated terms on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 23.03 seconds over the fast main track.

Around the far turn, Share the Ride inched his way closer to Tribecca under no urging from Ortiz, who looked over both shoulders as they approached the quarter-pole through a half in 46.14.

Ortiz gave Share the Ride his cue just outside the three-sixteenths pole, but a stubborn Tribecca did not retreat and dug in toward the rail as multiple stakes-winner Stan the Man and five-time winner Absentee made late bids in tandem to the outside.

Share the Ride edged clear of Tribecca just inside the eighth-pole to hit the wire a three-quarter length winner in a final time of 1:10.62.

Late closers Stan the Man and Absentee finished a respective second and third. Tribecca, Drafted, Arch Cat and Majestic Dunhill, who was compromised by an unfavorable beak, rounded out the order of finish.

Share the Ride has been a model of consistency through his 5-year-old campaign, winning 4-of-9 starts, including a triumph in the Mr. Prospector on September 12 at Monmouth Park. He also was third to Firenze Fire in the Grade 2 Vosburgh on September 26 at Belmont Park and was a game runner-up to Majestic Dunhill in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on October 31 at Belmont.

Returning $5.20 as the favorite, while carrying 133 pounds as the co-highweight, Share the Ride upped his lifetime earnings to $369,860 and record to 20-8-3-4.

“Everybody had a little extra weight today, but my horse was very game,” Ortiz said. “It was a great training job. This horse was 100 percent ready. He broke well and sat second and relaxed. I asked him to go passing the three-eighths pole to engage Tribecca. I wanted to be close to him at the quarter-pole because he's hard to beat on the lead and he digs in. I was in good range to win the race and they battled down the lane; two good horses in a match race and then the other horses were coming too, at the end, but he dug in.”

Bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, Share the Ride is the second progeny out of the multiple stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Graeme Hall mare Belle of the Hall.

Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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McGaughey Has Pegasus, Pegasus Turf On Radar For Code Of Honor, Note Dakota

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has the Grade 1, $3-million Pegasus World Cup on January 23 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., in mind for W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, who joined the conditioner's winter division at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla., after a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Clark on Friday at Churchill Downs.

The 4-year-old son of Noble Mission was sixth early on, made steady progress throughout the race and launched a four-wide move at the three-sixteenths pole, but came up a length shy of Bodexpress.

“I thought he ran fine,” McGaughey said. “I was disappointed he didn't win, but once he got freed up the other horse jumped away from him and we just couldn't catch him. He's at Payson Park this morning and we'll point for the Pegasus.”

A winner of his 2020 debut in the Grade 3 Westchester going a one-turn 1 1/16-miles at Belmont Park, Code of Honor was third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 and second in the Grade 2 Kelso on October 3, both at Belmont. As a 3-year-old, Code of Honor won the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and was elevated to first in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Through a record of 15-6-4-2, Code of Honor has amassed $2,644,360 in lifetime earnings.

McGaughey also said Allen Stable's homebred North Dakota could target the 1 3/16-mile Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational on January 23 at Gulfstream.

North Dakota tracked 14 lengths off the pace before launching a devastating stretch run to get up in the final jumps to secure a half-length triumph in the Grade 3 Red Smith on November 21 on the Big A turf, while registering a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

The 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt, a half-brother to prolific stallion War Front, broke his maiden on March 25 over the turf at Tampa Bay Downs before defeating winners over the Oldsmar oval.

“I think he has a lot of upside,” McGaughey said. “It looks like he's just learning how to run. Not sure where I want to run him next, maybe the Pegasus Turf. I wish it were a little farther, that would suit him better, but we'll see.”

North Dakota is also a half-sibling to graded stakes winners Teammate, Ecclesiastic and black-type producing mare Gracie Square, whose daughter by Tapit, Mrs. Danvers, won the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely in front-running fashion under Jose Ortiz on Friday at the Big A for McGaughey.

Also an Allen homebred, Mrs. Danvers broke her maiden last August at Saratoga and came back off 10 months rest to finish second going 6 ½ furlongs in a Belmont Park allowance on June 20. She did not find the winner's circle until her fifth start this season going a one-turn mile on October 25 over Big Sandy ahead of the Comely.

“Some of her races here earlier, she just looked like she didn't want to win,” McGaughey said. “She trained really, really well off her last race. She had a great work galloping out going into the race. I didn't know what was going to happen, with 3-year-old fillies going a mile and an eighth most of them for the first time. Jose rode a good race.”

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