Beach View Rides Rail to Win Cougar II Handicap
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Photo: BENOIT PHOTO
Beach View wins the Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar
The way the $100,000 Cougar II Handicap (G3) played out may have been out of the ordinary, but the result was clear July 25 at Del Mar.
While others went on the attack in the final turn of the 1 1/2-mile dirt test, Levy Racing's Beach View got a patient ride from jockey Rafael Bejarano, found an opening on the rail in the stretch, and burst away late to win by 4 3/4 lengths over heavy favorite Hoppertunity.
The race took an odd turn after the second of three turns when early pacesetter Little Scotty moved to the middle of the track and dropped to the back of the pack. Unapologetic and Twentytwentyvision advanced on the inside to take to the front.
After Unapologetic tired in the second turn, longshot Full of Luck took his place near the front. Hoppertunity advanced three wide to move up on even terms with the pair late in the bend, while Little Scotty attempted to re-rally two lanes outside of Hoppertunity under jockey Asa Espinoza. On the inside of the quartet, Twentytwentyvision left just enough room for Beach View to slip through.
With a clear lane, the 5-year-old son of Giant's Causeway accelerated and finished the distance in 2:34.02.
"He was (winless in two starts) on the dirt, but one of them was the first race of his career and the other was the Tokyo City Cup (G3), where he ran the best number of his life," said winning trainer Leonard Powell. "I thought we would be a bit closer to the pace, but Rafael made the right call."
Before his backstretch antics, Little Scotty went to the front and set a pace of :25.56 and :49.94 through a half-mile while Beach View raced in fifth. Six furlongs went in 1:14.31, and Twentytwentyvision had a head in front through a mile in 1:40.55.
"My horse has speed, but we came away from there nice and easy and he was relaxed, so I took a little hold," Bejarano said of Beach View, who had been on or near the early pace in four of his last five starts. "My position was good throughout. Then, coming for home, I got through inside, and he went. He likes the distance. It's good for him."
With his normal grinding style, Hoppertunity, off at 3-5, held second, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Full of Luck. Twentytwentyvision, Little Scotty, Prince of Arabia, and Unapologetic completed the order of finish.
"He was just a little flat today," said Hoppertunity's jockey, Flavien Prat.
Bred in Maryland by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds, out of the Not For Love mare Love's Blush, Beach View has a 3-2-2 record from 10 starts and $168,200 in earnings. He was a $180,000 purchase out of the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.