A bout of colic caused Maximum Security to fall behind in his preparation last year, forcing him to miss a start in the 2019 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Tag: Racing
Irish-Bred Red Lark Gains First Stakes Triumph In Del Mar Oaks Upset
Irish-bred Red Lark made a three-wide rally into the stretch under Drayden Van Dyke, overhauled front-running favorite Laura's Light and Warren's Showtime and scored a decisive one-length victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Saturday, recording her first career stakes victory and second win overall from 12 starts.
Trained by Patrick Gallagher and racing for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Red Lark covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.64 and paid $40.20 as a 19-1 outsider. Another longshot, 25-1 California Kook, rallied for second, with Warren's Showtime, the 7-2 second betting choice, finishing third.
A 3-year-old filly by Australian-bred Epaulette, Red Lark began her career in Ireland, going winless in five starts at 2, then broke her maiden in her second U.S. start on Feb. 9 on turf at Santa Anita. She was stakes-placed when runner-up to Toinette in the G3 Wilshire on June 20 and third most recently in a Del Mar allowance/optional claiming race on July 12 at Del Mar.
Laura's Light, coming into the Del Mar Oaks off back-to-back graded stakes victories in the G3 Honeymoon at Santa Anita and the G2 San Clemente at Del Mar, was sent to the front by Abel Cedillo. After setting fractions of :24.46, :48.14 and 1:12.34 she was overtaken at the top of the stretch by Warren's Showtime, but the latter was unable to sustain her rally in the final furlong after a mile was clocked in 1:36.76.
Van Dyke saved ground with Red Lark in the early stages of the Oaks, shifted off the rail in the run down the backstretch and rallied for the victory with a sharp turn of foot in the final quarter mile.
“Out of the gate, we had the perfect spot,” said Van Dyke. “I wanted to follow Mike Smith (Warren's Showtime), because I thought his filly would be the one to beat. I knew my filly had a good chance because she was really fit. We got bottled up in her last race. Today, she got to run and she showed how good she is.”
“The allowance race here set her up well and she came out of it good,” said Gallagher. “I was confident in the filly; I knew she was happy and all, but I didn't know if she was good enough. She needed to run the race of her life and she did. Drayden had her in a great spot all the way and when he asked she responded and was good enough.”
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Favored Harvest Moon Captures Torrey Pines In Stakes Debut
Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor's Harvest Moon ran a perfect stalking race, then proved strongest late in capturing the $100,500 Torrey Pines Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths Saturday at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.
The 3-year-old filly test, run at a mile with six in the field, was Harvest Moon's third victory in four starts and her first score in a stakes race. She was handled by Flavien Prat, who was winning his meet-leading ninth stakes.
Harvest Moon, a daughter of Uncle Mo bred by Alice Bamford, took home $60,000 for the win pushing her earnings to $120,720. She paid $5 to win as the 3-2 favorite.
Finishing second was Pam and Martin Wygod's Secret Keeper and third was Feghali, Feghali or Mathiesen, et al's Paige Anne.
Harvest Moon covered the distance in 1:36.87 after fractions of :22.13, :45.93, 1:11.16 and 1:23.76.
“It was perfect,” said Prat. “She was nice and relaxed and I knew they were running very fast up front. She's got speed if you want it, though. Last time I hardly asked her to run. Today, she was just waiting on me. She won it very nicely.”
The stakes win was the ninth of the meet for rider Prat, but his first in the Torrey Pines. He now has 53 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the second of the meet for trainer Callaghan and his first in the Torrey Pines. He now has 13 stakes wins at Del Mar.
“We were delighted,” said Callaghan. “This filly means a lot because I trained the mother (Qaraaba), which gives it a little extra sentiment. She's an exciting, big filly that we've been super patient with and it's great that she's coming in to doing what she's doing.”
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Chaos Theory Proves Sharp Claim For Sadler, Winning Green Flash Handicap
Hronis Racing's Chaos Theory, claimed for $62,500 last out by trainer John Sadler for his main owners – Pete and Kosta Hronis — made good on his first trip over the grass in California with a come-from-behind, one-length tally in Saturday's $101,000 Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.
The 5-year-old gelding, who was last seen in action at Churchill Downs in Kentucky on June 14, was handled by Umberto Rispoli, the newcomer to Del Mar this season who has shown a special affinity for its grass course. The Green Flash score was his sixth stakes victory of the meet with five of them coming on the turf. He's now won 23 turf races in 69 tries, a remarkable 33% clip on the green.
“It was beautiful.,” said Rispoli. “He surprised me because he broke so sharply. I figured we'd be a little farther back, but it put us in a great spot just behind the speed. At this distance you can't get too far back. I had a lot of horse turning for home. I thought we'd get there.”
Chaos Theory, by Curlin, paid $5.60, $3.40 and $2.80 across the board as the race favorite. He picked up $60,000 for the score bringing his bankroll to $260,554.
Finishing second was Maryanski and Schneider's Baja Sur and running third was W. C. Racing's Torosay.
Chaos Theory covered the five furlong distance in :56.22.
“We've got a great grass sprint program in California and Santa Anita is actually adding a turf chute,” said Sadler. “So we have a variety of distances on the grass and this horse is kind of a specialist — 5, 5 ½ furlongs so I thought he would be a great fit in California, that's why we brought him out. He's a good horse. We were pleased with his race today.”
The stakes win was the second of the meet and second in the Green Flash (2008, Get Funky) for trainer Sadler. He now has 78 stakes wins at Del Mar, moving him ahead of Ron McAnally and into second place on Del Mar's all-time trainers' list.
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