She is coming off a second in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano, which is 1 ¾-mile race.
OK, the favorite, at 3-1, is Siberian Iris for trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Flavien Prat. (Note: There are no Cal-breds in the 10-horse field.) Now, here’s my question? Wouldn’t you think a race named after the CTT (California Thoroughbred Trainers) and TOC (Thoroughbred Owners of California) would be restricted to Cal-breds? I would. The feature is the $75,000 CTT and TOC Stakes for fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf. It’s an OK card with a minor stakes, three allowance/optional claimers and two maiden specials. The final card of the week is 11 races with the usual 2 p.m. I looked over right at the wire and I saw we won. I waited until the quarter pole and then I asked her. Juan Hernandez (winning jockey): “She broke a little slow, so I didn’t rush with her. There’s not enough time to run her here again this meet, but we’ll show up in November.” Hats off to her for digging for it and hats off to Juan for a great ride. She was much the best last year when she got DQ’ed, but she ran a great race. But she always runs her best here at Del Mar and she came running. She kind of likes to ease out and get in the middle of the track in her races and I was a little worried for a while about the fractions. Mike Puype (winning trainer): “A great ride. Here’s what the winning connections had to say. Sedamar was second, followed by Mucho Unusual, Cordiality and Kitty Boom Boom. Pulpit Rider, on the outside, ran down Sedamar in deep stretch to win by a nose.
Kitty Boom Boom took a sizable early lead but ran out of steam late in the far turn as the pack went four-wide into the stretch. The feature was the $125,000 Solana Beach Stakes for Cal-bred fillies and mares going a mile on the turf.