Noted and Quoted Swings in Chandelier

After finishing fourth in her grade I debut in the Del Mar Debutante, Noted and Quoted found success in her second try at the top level with a half-length victory in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes (gr. I) Oct. 1 at Santa Anita Park. 

After tracking early leader With Honors through most of the 1 1/16-mile race, jockey Rafael Bejarano asked Noted and Quoted for more in early stretch and the daughter of The Factor   surged to the lead as With Honors held second. Zapperkat finished third. The victory gives trainer Bob Baffert 10 wins in the Chandelier.

"I have to give Bob a lot of credit for this," said Bejarano who secured his fourth Chandelier win since 2011. "Baffert told me that he thought I might want to stay on Noted and Quoted because she was going to be prepared to run the mile and a sixteenth. And, he was right. American Cleopatra (who finished eighth) was right next to me but Stewart (Elliott, on American Cleopatra) didn't have enough horse and mine was the better horse today."

Speedway Stable's Noted and Quoted completed the distance in 1:44.88 on a fast track.

The Chandelier is a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" race to the Juvenile Fillies (gr. I). Peter Fluor of Houston races as Speedway Stable.

In her second maiden special weight try, Noted and Quoted won a six-furlong race Aug. 7 at Del Mar by 9 1/2 lengths. Off that effort, Noted and Quoted tried the Del Mar Debutante Sept. 3, when she raced sixth early and rallied to fourth in the seven-furlong test.

The Chandelier marked her first try at two turns.

LNJ Foxwoods' With Honors, who was trying dirt for the first time after winning her first two starts on turf, including a stakes race at Del Mar, raced well from the inside post under Flavien Prat. The daughter of War Front   skipped through a quarter-mile in :23.29 and a half-mile in :47.10, while Bejarano kept Noted and Quoted close.

Noted and Quoted challenged after six furlongs in 1:11.81 then powered to the lead in early stretch.

"When they turned for home, I thought, 'That's a good filly (With Honors) that ran second.' I have a lot of respect for her," Baffert said. "(Noted and Quoted) is a very slight filly. I don't have to do a lot with her, but the fact that she's already proved she can go two turns—that's what we were trying to find out with her. I'm pretty proud of her effort, because she ran against a really great filly."

Noted and Quoted paid $16.80 to win, $8.40 to place, and $5.80 to show, while With Honors paid $10.60 and $7.60 to place and show. Zapperkat, the 5-2 favorite in her stakes debut, paid $3.80 to show.

"She ran great. I wish I was on the outside but she ran great," Prat said. "She was really brave to come back at the end and I felt that she was kind of tired, but she just tried hard and did everything right."

Trainer Keith Desormeaux believes With Honors will move forward in the Breeders' Cup.

"I concentrated on freshening this horse after her win at Del Mar (Sept. 5 in the one mile Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes). I didn't drill her in the mornings," Desormeaux said. "We came up a bit short today, but it puts her in a position to run a big race on Breeders' Cup day and that's the goal."

Bred in Florida by Gilbert Campbell, Noted and Quoted is out of stakes-winning City Zip   mare Silver Cup, who has produced two other winners. Noted and Quoted is the first stakes winner for freshman sire The Factor.

Speedway Stable went to $375,000 to land Noted and Quoted from the Eddie Woods consignment at this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March sale of 2-year-olds in training.