DEL MAR — Fillies Too Sassy (a 25-1 longshot) and Splendora (a 4-5 favorite) each won a $100,000 co-feature on Monday.
But there was a performance much earlier in the program in a second-level allowance race that could eventually have far greater impact on the sport.
Full Serrano, racing for the first time since going wire-to-wire to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar last November, covered the same course in 1 minute, 35.11 seconds to win by 7 ¼ lengths.
“That was very impressive, everything we hoped for,” trainer John Sadler said of Full Serrano’s return under Juan Hernandez as a 1-9 favorite.
A year ago this weekend, Full Serrano led the Pacific Classic for almost the entire distance before being overtaken by longshot Mixto in the final strides. Then came the victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in just the third U.S. start for the Argentine-bred 5-year-old.
However, Full Serrano suffered an injury last December that sidelined him until this weekend, although he had entered last week’s Grade II Del Mar Mile on the turf before being a late scratch.
“We wanted Full Serrano ($2.20) back on the dirt,” said Sadler, who said Monday’s romp was “part of a three-race plan.” The next step is the Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita later this month. Then Full Serrano will return to Del Mar and attempt to repeat in the Breeders’ Cup Mile or step up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“We’re very excited about the prospects,” said Sadler. “My horse loves Del Mar. He’s won three of four starts here, his only starts in the United States.”
There were two interesting footnotes to Full Serrano’s victory.
It was the first win in 25 races for Hronis Racing during Del Mar’s summer meeting. Last summer, Hronis had 12 wins in 36 starts to win the owners’ title for the seventh time in 13 years.
And it was the first of Hernandez’s three wins on the day as the reigning jockey champion opened a 41-35 lead on Antonio Fresu after the pair were tied at 35-35 midway through Sunday’s program. Hernandez had six wins in a span of 15 races as Fresu was blanked.
Hernandez’s second win Monday came aboard the Bob Baffert-trained Splendora ($3.60) in the Tranquility Lake Stakes – a one-mile race on the dirt for older fillies and mares. It marked the 17th winning collaboration between Hernandez and Baffert this summer.
Splendora, a 4-year-old daughter of Audible, led wire-to-wire and finished 5½ lengths ahead of One Magic Philly (Fresu) in the six-horse race.
“She was in control the entire way,” said Hernandez, whose third win of the afternoon came one race later aboard Russells Hustle ($10).
Jockey Umberto Rispoli and Too Sassy stalked leading favorite Liberation from second place for most of the 5½-furlong Generous Portion Stakes before taking off in the stretch to win by 3¼ lengths over Mohaven with Liberation third among the eight, 2-year-old, Cal-bred starters.
“She just kept running for me,” Rispoli said of Too Sassy. “She didn’t look like a 25-1 longshot going into the three-eighths pole and I enjoyed the moment.”
“We got the lead and no one put any heat on us,” said trainer Sam Scolamieri of his second win of the meeting. “I was shocked. I thought somebody would go with us.”
Final weekend
Del Mar’s summer meeting ends next weekend with three days starting Friday.
Juveniles will be in the spotlight with five of the six stakes races being for the deep crop of 2-year-olds on the grounds.
The featured events are a pair of Grade 1s – the Del Mar Debutante on Saturday and the Del Mar Futurity on Sunday’s closing card. Baffert will be looking for a fifth straight win and a record 19th overall in the Futurity.
The stakes will start Friday with the $100,000 I’m Smokin Stakes for Cal-bred 2-year-olds. Backing up the Debutante on Saturday will be the Grade II John C. Mabee Stakes for older fillies and mares and the $100,000 Juvenile Fillies Turf. Sunday’s second feature is the Grade III Del Mar Juvenile Turf.
Notable
Jockey Cristobal Herrera was uninjured after being thrown from II Bellator at the end of the backstretch of Monday’s second race.
• Former Union-Tribune sports columnist Bryce Miller was honored before the fourth race. Miller died in March after a two-year battle with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.