BROWN FINISHES QUITE A BIG HAUL
Trainer runs 1-2 in Grade I Matriarch with Viadera and Blowout; takes home $540,000
Trainer Chad Brown completed quite a weekend at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Sunday, although he physically remained thousands of miles away at his New York base.
Brown’s Viadera and Blowout finished 1-2, respectively by a nose, in the Grade I Matriarch Stakes that completed Del Mar’s turf festival of seven stakes races over the final four days of the summer meeting.
That gave Brown a total of four wins and two runnerup finishes in the five stakes races in which he had entrants. All told, Browntrained horses departed Del Mar with $540,000.
The only thing missing from the winning formula Sunday was jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who had ridden Brown’s winners in Saturday’s Grade I Hollywood Derby (Domestic Spending) and the Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes (Fluffy Socks) and Thursday’s Red Carpet Handicap (Orglandes).
Joel Rosario rallied Viadera ($12.80) to victory in the $300,000 Matriarch. Flavien Prat, who rode three winners Sunday, was second on Blowout in the mile run for older fillies and mares.
Trainer Mark Glatt and jockey Juan Hernandez did score one for the locals in Sunday’s earlier $100,000 Grade III Cecil B. DeMille for 2-yearolds when long shot Beer Can Man ($41.20) scored a halflength victory over Caisson in the mile race. It was Glatt’s third win of the day — doubling his total for the fall meeting. But the eastern invaders claimed five of the seven stakes.
“This weekend has been amazing,” said Jose Hernandez, Brown’s on-site assistant. “I didn’t know which filly from the stable was the winner, but I’m happy it turned out to be Viadera. My boss is an amazing trainer and I just try to do my best for him.
“We like it out here. In the future, if Chad wanted to send a string out here, I’d like that.”
Sunday marked the second straight race that Viadera and Blowout finished 1-2, respectively.
The British-bred Blowout led early, chasing third-place Juliet Foxtrot for most of the race before retaking the lead briefly in the stretch. But Viadera, who was sixth with a quarter-mile to go and still fourth in the stretch, got her nose in front in the final strides.
“Whew, I had to work for that one,” said Rosario. “She’s really a good filly, but she makes you work. I had to stay after her. She can run though, there’s no doubt.”
In the DeMille, Beer Can Man ran third until the top of the stretch, took the lead from Commander Khai and held off Caisson by a half-length. Favored Royal Prince faded to seventh in the 11-horse field.
“One jump out of there and he came back to me,” said Juan Hernandez. “He settled well. I just found my 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 anyone go past him, either.”
“We entered him the first weekend of the meeting, but that race didn’t go,” said Glatt of the 2-year-old who had been racing at Indiana Downs. “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 and Juan put a nice run on him.”
This marked the second time that Brown has sent horses west to sweep the final two Grade I races of the Crosby season. He did it 2018 with Raging Bull (Hollywood Derby) and Uni (Matriarch).
Notable
Del Mar’s stewards handed top jockeys Ortiz and Prat three-day suspensions. Ortiz was penalized for his winning ride on Fluffy Socks in Saturday’s Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes (although Fluffy Socks wasn’t disqualified). Prat drew his suspension after being disqualified from a win in Thursday’s first race.
Abel Cedillo won his second straight Bing Crosby meeting riding title with 19 wins. Prat, who missed four days while at the Breeder’s Cup, finished second with 14 after three wins Sunday. Umberto Rispoli finished third with 11.
Richard Baltas scored four wins over the final four days to pass Peter Miller and win the training title with 11 wins. Phil D’Amato, with five wins over the final four days (including two Sunday), finished second with 10 wins. Miller and tied for third with nine apiece.
Del Mar results for closing day of fall meet.