Grace Adler Demolishes Rivals in Del Mar Debutante
Image:
Description:
Photo: Benoit Photo
Grace Adler wins the Del Mar Debutante Stakes at Del Mar
Grace Adler may have been "the other Baffert" as they went to the post in the $301,500 TVG Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) Sept. 5 at Del Mar, but after a stunning run circling most of the field, she was the only one around at the finish.
The Curlin filly, with Flavien Prat in the irons, started well back in the seven-furlong trip around one turn as stablemate Eda , the race favorite, slugged it out with Elm Drive through speedy early fractions of :21.78 and :44.37.
Heading into the turn, Grace Adler began a relentless assault, came out to the middle of the track, and blazed home first by 11 1/4 lengths. Dance to the Music was second with Bicameral another 2 3/4 lengths back in third. Grace Adler, bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm, finished in 1:23.76 on the fast track.
Eda faded to finish fifth and Elm Street reported seventh, beating only one rival.
Grace Adler ($11.20), owned by Willow Grace Farm and Michael Lund Petersen, was making just her second start for trainer Bob Baffert, who won the race for a record 10th time.
"I wasn't happy with (Eda's) position early because they were going way too fast up front," Baffert said. "Grace Adler is a really good filly and when she started to make her move, you could tell by (announcer) Trevor Denman's voice that she was really making up the ground.
"They're both good fillies. It's just too bad that (Eda) got caught up in a speed duel. It was set up for (Grace Adler)."
Prat, the meeting's leading rider, agreed with the assessment that the early pace set the table for his filly.
"No special instructions for me," Prat said. "Bob just told me that she wasn't as fast as the other fillies but that she'd come running. He was certainly right. It might have looked like I moved too early with her, but it was more a case of them coming back to me. We were going forward and they were coming back."
Baffert not only won the Debutante for the 10th time but also made it three in a row—a feat he accomplished once before with Vivid Angel , Excellent Meeting , and Chilukki from 1997-99. He won the 2019 edition with Bast and last year's with Princess Noor .
The race also has been won in recent years by the likes of Songbird and Bellafina .
Grace Adler was bought for $700,000 from breeder Blue Heaven Farm's consignment to the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. She was produced by the grade 3-winning Newfoundland mare Our Khrysty, also the dam of grade 2-placed Virginia Key . Our Khrysty has an Into Mischief colt that is entered in the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale as part of the Blue Heaven consignment and an Uncle Mo filly born this year. She was bred to War Front for 2022.
In Grace Adler's only previous start July 31, she faced five other first-timers. With Prat up, she ran much as she did in the Debutante, racing back off the early speed, then circling rivals to reach contention. That move was far less dramatic, though, and she won by only three-quarters of a length over Valentina Ghada , a Practical Joke filly from Michael McCarthy's barn who returned to run second again Aug. 28.
Grace Adler has earned $222,000 to date.
Video: TVG Del Mar Debutante S. (G1)
Liam's Dove Gets It Done
A race earlier, Gary Barber's Liam's Dove broke her maiden in her third career start when she hung on by a head to win the $103,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes.
Ridden by Kyle Frey for trainer Peter Miller, Liam's Dove set the pace and had a 2 1/2-length advantage in the stretch, but Helens Well rallied from last of 11 and cut the margin down to a head at the wire. The Liam's Map filly ($71.80) completed the mile in 1:36.65 on firm turf, paying.
Liam's Dove was bred in Kentucky by Marablue Farm out of the Hawk Wing mare The Dove, whose last registered foal is a yearling Goldencents filly.
Carry Frommer, agent, purchased Liam's Dove for $75,000 out of Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment to the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. Frommer then consigned the filly to the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where Miller, acting as agent, bought her for $120,000.
With a win and a third in three starts, Liam's Dove has earned $68,900.