Outsider Achiever's Legacy Wins Desi Arnaz
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Achiever's Legacy, dismissed at 9-1 as the longest shot in a four-horse field of 2-year-old fillies, rallied in the stretch to win the $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 16 under apprentice jockey Drayden Van Dyke.
Racing at the rear in the seven-furlong sprint to the three-eighths pole, Achiever's Legacy overhauled the dueling Maybellene and 3-10 odds-on favorite Light the City in the upper stretch and went on to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:23.25 for the distance.
Maybellene, off at 9-2 with Rafael Bejarano, edged Light the City and jockey Elvis Trujillo by a neck for runner-up honors, with Into Oblivion a distant fourth. Light the City led to midstretch before being headed by the winner, after carving quarter-mile fractions of :22.06 and :45.35.
"She broke well, but those two inside (Light the City and Maybellene) really scooted out of there and wanted to go," said Van Dyke of Achiever's Legacy. "So I just took a little hold and got my filly to relax. Then when it came time, she was there for me. Nice race for her, and my second stakes win at Del Mar."
Xoxo was a scratch from the original field of the Desi Arnaz, which was formerly the Moccasin Stakes when contested at Hollywood Park.
Achiever's Legacy, a daughter of City Zip owned by a partnership of Gillian Campbell, Margaret Cellucci, Dan Horowitz, Richard Robertson, Marty Joseph, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, returned $21.60 and $9.80. She earned $60,000 with her second win in five starts. Maybellene paid $6.40 to place. With only four betting interests, there was no show wagering.
Hollendorfer also trains the heavy favorite.
"I just try to win every race I'm in; I don't have any thoughts about anything else today," he said of the topsy-turvy result. "The race set up funny. It always does in these four-horse fields. I'd rather run in a 12-horse field, then everything sets up the way it is supposed to.
"I didn't mind being on the lead with (Light the City) but that probably isn't exactly what she wants to do. We had a lot of trouble with (Achiever's Legacy) when we ran her down on the turf, but she's been improving and I thought she would run well or I wouldn't have put her in here."
Achiever's Legacy, out of the Lure mare Lure the Bear, was bred in Kentucky by Richard D. Maynard. She cost $9,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling last year and began her career with a maiden success on the grass at Gulfstream Park for trainer Joseph Catanese III June 27.
In her West Coast debut, Achiever's Legacy was pulled up after the saddle slipped in the Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar. She then was sixth in the Surfer Girl at Santa Anita Park. Most recently, the filly was beaten just a half length while finishing third to Maybellene in a Santa Anita allowance race Oct. 23.
Peter Miller took over the undisputed top spot in the trainer standings by sending out three winners on the Sunday program. Entering the day tied with Mike Puype, Miller saddled Serbian Syclone to win the third race at $10.60, Tosheen at $5.20 in the fourth, and Echo Zulu at $10.20 in the sixth.
With a three-day carryover of $599,483 and $2,552,817 in "new" money, Sunday's Pick Six pool was $3,152,300. On an afternoon dominated by favorites, there were 643 perfect tickets and each was worth $3,051.40.
Attendance Sunday totaled 5,587.