Accelerate, Eskimo dominant in G1 weekend stakes races
Accelerate won by 12 1/2 lengths Saturday in the Grade 1
$1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar in California, while Eskimo Kisses went last to first as a 6
1/2-length winner in the Grade 1
$600,000 Alabama Stakes at the historic Saratoga Race Course in New York.
Accelerate earned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 115 — a career high — for trainer John Sadler and owner Hronis Racing LLC. Accelerate’s only loss this year came when he finished second, beaten a neck by City of Light, in the Grade 2 $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 14 at Oaklawn Park.
The victory, Accelerate’s fourth in five starts this year, earned the
5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky automatic entry into the Grade 1
$6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs, with all pre-entry and entry fees paid. Accelerate is the second consecutive Oaklawn-raced horse to win the Pacific Classic, the signature race of the Del Mar meeting, following Collected, who upset champion Arrogate and Accelerate in 2017.
Saturday’s victory propelled to Accelerate to No. 1 in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred Poll. Triple Crown winner Justify fell to No. 2.
Two other 2018 Oaklawn-raced horses are ranked this week. Champion Unique Bella is No. 7 and Grade 1 winner Bee Jersey is No. 10.
Bee Jersey was a Jan. 20 allowance winner while Unique Bella finished second in the Grade 1
$700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap for older fillies and mares on April 13. Unique Bella was retired after emerging from a 5-furlong workout Saturday at Del Mar with a sesamoid fracture.
Accelerate, who was ridden by Joel Rosario, ran 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:01.83 and paid
$2.80 as the odds-on favorite. All starters carried 124 pounds. He had already recorded victories this year in the Grade 1 $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March
10 at Santa Anita and the Grade 1
$500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes on May 26 at Santa Anita. Both were 1 ¼-mile races.
Overall, Accelerate has an 8-5-5 record from 20 lifetime starts and earnings of $2,312,480.
Two-time Oaklawn winner Eskimo Kisses was ridden by Jose Ortiz on Saturday in the Alabama one of the country’s most prestigious races for 3-year-old fillies. Eskimo Kisses ($20) ran 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:03.22. All starters carried 121 pounds.
Eskimo Kisses broke her maiden Feb. 1 at Oaklawn and cleared her first allowance condition by 11 1/2 lengths Feb. 22 in Hot Springs. Trained by Kenny McPeek, she has a 3-4-0 record from 10 lifetime starts and earnings of $698,935.
The Alabama was the first career stakes victory for Eskimo Kisses. Oaklawn-raced Elate won the 2017 Alabama.
Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn’s second-leading trainer the last two years, recorded his 2,000th career North American victory in Monday’s first race at Saratoga, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.
Diodoro reached the milestone with Benefactor ($7.70), who was ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Oaklawn’s leading rider the last six years.
Diodoro has maintained a string at Oaklawn since 2015 and increased his victory total every year. He has 94 career victories
in Hot Springs, winning nine races in 2015,
22 in 2016, 31 in 2017 and 32 this year. He has five career Oaklawn stakes victories, including the Oaklawn Handicap in 2017 with Inside Straight.
Among his major clients is M and M Racing (Mike Sisk), which captured its first career owner’s title this year at Oaklawn. The Canadian-born Diodoro won his first race in 1995.
Tenfold and Bravazo, both winners this year at Oaklawn, recorded workouts Sunday at Saratoga in preparation for its Grade 1
$1.25 million Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds Saturday.
Tenfold, a Feb. 9 debut winner and March 18 allowance winner at Oaklawn, went a half-mile in :50.09 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Bravazo, a Jan. 13 allowance winner at Oaklawn, went 5 furlongs in 1:00.11 for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
A third Oaklawn-raced horse, Wonder Gadot, is also scheduled to run in the Travers. Wonder Gadot, runner-up in the Grade
3 $400,000 Fantasy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies April 13 at Oaklawn, is scheduled to face males again in the 1 1/4-mile Travers after winning the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Petrov, a Feb. 18 allowance winner at Oaklawn in his 4-year-old debut, was an allowance winner Sunday at Saratoga. Petrov ran in all four legs of Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby prep series in 2017, finishing second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes and Grade 3 $500,000 Southwest Stakes.
Petrov ($540,307) surpassed $500,000 in career earnings with Sunday’s victory, his fifth overall.
Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Swing and Sway finished second in the $100,000 Union Avenue Stakes for New York-bred female sprinters a week ago at Saratoga.
Dutch Parrot, who broke her maiden and was an allowance winner at the 2017 Oaklawn meeting, notched her first career stakes victory in the $200,000 Lady Jacqueline Saturday at Thistledown in Ohio.
Bred and owned by John Ed Anthony, of Hot Springs, Dutch Parrot ($9.20) won the 1 1/8-mile Lady Jacqueline by 3 1/4 lengths under Walter De La Cruz. The Arkansas-bred Dutch Parrot ran the distance over a fast track in 1:52.64.
It was the most lucrative career victory for trainer Will VanMeter. Dutch Parrot ran three times this year at Oaklawn, finishing second and third in allowance races. Overall, she has a 3-3-4 record from 16 lifetime starts and earnings of $311,087.
Another Oaklawn maiden special weights runner, Moonlit Garden, earned her first career stakes victory in the $100,000 Summer Colony Sunday at Saratoga. Moonlit Garden ($6.30) ran twice this year at Oaklawn, finishing third in her 3-year-old debut Jan. 25 and third in another maiden race Feb. 8.
Fantasy winner Sassy Sienna finished second Saturday in the Grade 3 $100,000 Monmouth Oaks at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
Oaklawn-raced Hotshot Anna ($4.20) won the $100,000 Satin and Lace Stakes Monday at Presque Isle Downs. Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Marquee Miss was scratched.