Instagrand (Into Mischief), an overwhelming 1-9 favorite for Del Mar's GII Best Pal S. off a jaw-dropping 10-length score first up at Los Alamitos June 29 that garnered 'TDN Rising Star'status, lived up to the hype with another freaky performance Saturday. The $1.2-million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream co-topper sprinted right to the front under Drayden Van Dyke, and doled out a :23 flat opening quarter with Owning (Flashback) glued to his right flank. He put that foe away before a :46.54 half, and ran up the score when given his cue, gliding under the wire some 10 1/4 lengths clear. Sparky Ville (Candy Ride {Arg}) completed the exacta, with Synthesis (First Samurai) third and Owning fading to fourth.
Saturday, Del Mar
BEST PAL S.-GII, $200,000, Del Mar, 8-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.27, ft.
1–INSTAGRAND, 118, c, 2, by Into Mischief
1st Dam: Assets of War, by Lawyer Ron
2nd Dam: Added Asset, by Lord At War (Arg)
3rd Dam: Added Elegance, by Stutz Blackhawk
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($190,000
Ylg '17 FTKJUL; $1,200,000 2yo '18 FTFMAR). 'TDN Rising Star'
O-OXO Equine LLC; B-Stoneway Farm (KY); T-Jerry
Hollendorfer; J-Drayden Van Dyke. $120,000. Lifetime Record:
2-2-0-0, $144,000. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”paramount-congratulations”][bullet ad=”watermark-pinhook-yearling-purchase-bluewater”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Sparky Ville, 120, c, 2, Candy Ride (Arg)&log=">Candy Ride (Arg)–Lorelei K, by Storm
Cat. ($170,000 RNA Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Del Secco DCS, Inc.;
B-Aaron & Marie Jones LLC (KY); T-Jeff Bonde. $40,000.
3–Synthesis, 120, r, 2, First Samurai–Trust in Hope, by
Bernardini. ($16,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Big Chief Racing, LLC,
Madaket Stables LLC, Rocker O Ranch, LLC & J. Keith
Desormeaux; B-Catherine Zoc (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux.
$24,000.
Margins: 10 1/4, 3 1/4, HD. Odds: 0.10, 14.50, 19.00.
Also Ran: Owning, Mason Dixon.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
“I haven't been getting on him in the morning, but they told me he was ready,” red-hot rider Drayden Van Dyke said. “Oh, yeah. I just threw a couple of crosses at him today; that's all. Cadillac. I wanted to see if he'd change leads on his own, but in the end I just gave it a little weight shift [to the inside] and he made a perfect change. He's got the mind of a 4- or 5-year-old. Professional.”
Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer added, “I was a little bit worried [with the delay at the gate]; some of the colts were acting up, but then they got them in there. He broke good even though he had been standing in there awhile, then Drayden got this colt to relax and he did his thing. I think it is an improvement [over his debut race] in that he did it so much easier. We'll look at the [GI Del Mar] Futurity for him, for sure.”
Pedigree Notes:
A $190,000 Fasig-Tipton July yearling, Instagrand breezed in :10 flat at Gulfstream before garnering top dollar from Larry Best's OXO Equine. He was one of three horses this juvenile sales season to garner a winning bid of $1.2 million.
Best has emerged as a major player in the bloodstock market over the last few years, and his hefty investment in the game has been paying off. He campaigns January's GIII Lecomte S. Instilled Regard (Arch)–a $1.05 million OBSMAR juvenile himself; fellow 'Rising Star' Brill (Medaglia d'Oro), who took her debut here July 18 and was last term's $1-million Fasig-Tipton July topper; and Rowayton (Into Mischief), who scored first up here July 21. Best was back in action this week at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, where he purchased an American Pharoah–Life At Ten filly for $1.2 million and a daughter of Into Mischief for $950,000.
Stoneway Farm purchased Instagrand's dam for $165,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton July sale. She won her debut, but failed to return to the winner's circle in 12 subsequent efforts. She produced the winning Aerial Assets (Into Mischief) before Instagrand, and has a yearling colt by Cairo Prince and a colt foal by Noble Mission (GB). Assets of War was bred back to Creative Cause. Instagrand's second and third dams were graded stakes winners, and his female family also includes Grade I-winning juvenile filly Irish Smoke (Smoke Glacken).
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