Nevada Beach All Out to Win Native Diver
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Nevada Beach wins the Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar
After scoring a breakthrough victory in the Goodwood Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park, Nevada Beach advanced to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar, where he finished a well-beaten seventh at 18-1 odds.
Back at Del Mar Nov. 22, it was supposed to be much easier for the 3-year-old Omaha Beach colt against just three foes in the $98,000 Native Diver Stakes (G3). He got the job done by a half-length, but it wasn't as easy as his 1-10 odds indicated.
Sitting third in a bunched-up field through 6 furlongs in 1:11.25, Nevada Beach and jockey Juan Hernandez launched a three-wide rally on the far turn.
The Bob Baffert trainee caught pacesetters Westwood and British Isles at the head of the stretch. Westwood down on the rail was the first to surrender, but British Isles—the longest shot on the board with a 0-0-0 record in three lifetime dirt starts—fought Nevada Beach to the sixteenth pole, when the favorite finally got his head in front.
"(Nevada Beach) broke a step slow and I had to help him to get him in the rhythm, and around the three-eighths pole I had to start working on him because he was getting a little lazy on me," Hernandez said. "Bob knows that his horse has talent, and I trust Bob and I trust the horse ...
"He's a really big horse. He's like a train, and I just had to start working on him a little early."
The final time for 1 1/8 miles on the fast dirt was a solid 1:48.35, so perhaps the runner-up, a 4-year-old Justify gelding with two stakes placings on the turf in 21 prior lifetime starts, ran a big one. Initially trained by Baffert for his first five races on behalf of a Coolmore partnership, British Isles is now co-owned by trainer Richard Baltas with Slam Dunk Racing and Jerry McClanahan.
Baffert trains the winner for Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. Westwood finished third in the no-show-wagering affair.
Nevada Beach improved his career mark to 4-1-0 in six starts, with earnings of $426,500.
Leading third-crop sire Omaha Beach stands at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington. His 2026 stud fee has been set at $75,000.
The connections of Nevada Beach in the winner's circle after the Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar
Video: Native Diver S. (G3)