By Stefanie Grimm
If the last 24 hours have given us anything to judge by, the future of racing on the West Coast seems to be in safe hands.
Just one day after 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) asserted herself atop her division in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S., fellow 'Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) followed suit with a game performance to give trainer Bob Baffert his 17th win in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity.
The colt's victory Sunday came as absolutely no surprise. An eight-length debut winner at Los Alamitos, the $950,000 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select grad parlayed that right into an equally impressive route when defeating another 'Rising Star' in Muth (Good Magic) to take the GIII Best Pal S. Aug. 13.
“He broke well and I thought I was going to go to the lead,” said winning jockey Flavien Prat. “But other horses went for it, so we waited. On the turn, he made his move and we made the lead. His teammate (Mirahmadi) was trying hard. But I think my horse was just waiting for something to come up to him. That didn't happen. Can he run on? We won't know until it happens, but he's done everything right so far.”
“It was the right kind of trip we were looking for,” added Jimmy Barnes, assistant to Bob Baffert. “We weren't sure about Mirahmadi, where he was going to be placed in the race, but he left there running. (Flavien) Prat just got comfortable on the inside and when he needed to get to the outside he did and he accelerated. He's pretty push button, pretty straight forward. I'm very proud of both of them.”
Pedigree Note:
Picked up out of the aforementioned Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, Prince of Monaco is the first winner out of two to race from the dam. Out of unraced Rainier, the Mar. 26 foal is a grandson of MSW Clay's Rocket (American Chance), a half-sister to GI Frizette winner Adieu (El Corredor). His 7-year-old dam is also responsible for a Munnings filly from last year who sells at Keeneland September next week (hip 1026), followed by a Constitution filly this term. She was bred back to Speightstown for a full-sibling next year.
Sunday, Del Mar
RUNHAPPY DEL MAR FUTURITY-GI, $300,500, Del Mar, 9-10, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.65, ft.
1–PRINCE OF MONACO, 123, c, 2, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Rainier, by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Clay's Rocket, by American Chance
3rd Dam: Irene's Talkin, by At the Threshold
1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($950,000 Ylg '22
FTSAUG). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables
LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E.
Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and
Tom Ryan; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $327,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Mirahmadi, 118, c, 2, Into Mischief–More Chocolate, by
Malibu Moon. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($1,050,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing,
Madaket Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E. Masterson,
Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and Tom Ryan;
B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Next Level, 118, c, 2, Vino Rosso–Devious d'Oro, by Medaglia
d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1
BLACK TYPE. ($20,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Don't Tell My Wife
Stables; B-White Fox Farm (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux.
$36,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.05, 15.60, 28.50.
Also Ran: Raging Torrent, Mary's Boy Bolt, Rothschild. Scratched: Valiant Knight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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