The 2 year old son of Not this time alert broke under Diego Herrera and settled midpack behind the pacers Proton And Follow Tiger by fractions of :22.97, :47.52 and 1:12.16. Racing favorite Hey mama mama was well controlled at the back of the pack and sat 3 1/2 lengths off the lead after half a mile under Flavien Prat.
Track Tiger pulled away from Proton on the far bend, but Proton regained momentum and took the lead back down the stretch as Unrivaled Time and Hey Nay Nay unleashed their bids.
By splitting horses down the stretch, Unrivaled Time took the lead in the closing stages and held off a late rally Magazine who finished a neck ahead of third place Hey Nay Nay, in a final time of 1:36.42. The stewards placed an inquiry and assessed the Unrivaled Time drifting into the path of Hey Nay Nay on the final stretch, but made no change.
“He continued to show signs of improvement over the summer,” Herrera said on Unrivaled Time. “I just wanted to make sure he was in a good, comfortable rhythm. The horse on the outside(Hey Nay Nay) came in, you know, he bumped me a little bit coming into the stretch and I was just trying to keep my horse as straight as possible. For him, the sky is the limit. He just wants to go outside and run. You know, today he showed a lot of maturity. We had a few horses that moved from indoors to outdoors.”
Trained by Leonard Powell, Unrivaled Time scored a 4 1/2-length win in a California-bred special weight on October 19 at 7 p.m. Santa Anita Park.
“I was very happy with our position early on and very happy with how the race unfolded,” Powell said. “He let a couple of speed horses go in front of it and settled down, and then came up with one run like he did when he broke his maiden. He broke his maiden against Cal-breds and the question mark was whether he was good enough to step up and the answer is yes.”
Unrivaled Time paid $13 to win.
He was bred by Alfred Pais, who campaigns the juvenile in partnership with Innergy Racing.
Video: Cecil B. DeMille S. (G3T)
Hope Road repeats in Bayakoa Stakes
Cicero Farms’ own breeder Hoopweg returned to form with a repeat victory in the $100,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for fillies and mares, becoming a millionaire in the process.
Hope Road wins the Bayakoa Stakes at Del Mar
Jockey Juan Hernandez accompanied the daughter of Quality road in a stalking position behind the pacer Just a joke who led by splits of :23.15, :47.32 and 1:11.46. Hope Road made her move coming into the stretch and cruised home to win by 6 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:36.38. Simply Joking settled for second place, 2 3/4 lengths ahead Month in third place.
“She’s really good out of the gate,” Hernandez said. “She stopped running, when I asked her to go, she listened. She relaxed really well. Bob (Baffert) worked on relaxing her. He did a really good job, and you know, all the credit goes to the filly, because she relaxed and followed the horse in front of me, waiting for me to shake the reins. We had a great trip.”
Hope Road came into the race after a distant third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), where she finished six lengths behind. Splendor And Strong . Before that, she was a two-time winner of the Ballerina Stakes (G1). Saratoga Race Course about the eventual winner of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). Scylla .
“She had already run two turns earlier and she ran the two turns again,” said assistant coach Jimmy Barnes. “I think it depends on the level of competition. Maybe it’s Del Mar that she likes. She ran exactly as we expected her to.”
Bob Baffert’s intern paid $2.80 to win.
Video: Bayakoa S. (G3)
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