INGLEWOOD, Calif. (May 26, 2008) - Daytona, given a perfect stalking trip by Alex Solis, easily out-ran Ever a Friend in the final furlong to register his sixth win in his last seven starts in Monday's $310,500 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park.
The Irish-bred, who won the 2007 Hollywood Derby in his most recent start here, covered one mile on the Lakeside Turf Course in 1:33.44 to win by 1¼ lengths while paying $5.40 as the 8-5 favorite in the field of seven older horses.
Second choice Ever a Friend had a two-race winning streak snapped in the 65th running of the Grade I event, but held second under Tyler Baze by a neck over Hyperbaric. Perfect Drift, a 9-year-old making his first start since last July, finished fourth, followed by Mast Track, Thousand Words and Notional.
Daytona has been a force since winning the Oak Tree Derby last October. His lone setback in six starts since then - all in graded stakes races - came when he finished third on a yielding turf course in the Mervin Munoz Jr. Memorial Handicap at the Fair Grounds in March. He bounced back to win the Arcadia Handicap in April and is now on another winning streak.
"It was probably his most impressive race to date," trainer Dan Hendricks said. "Going into the race he wasn't the favorite until the last click. It's satisfying when you have a deserving favorite like that and they're trying to knock you off but they can't."
Daytona had been on the lead in most of his races, but Hendricks and Solis were confident he could comfortably track the pace.
"I'm sure Tyler wanted to be close by me and that's why he ended up on the lead," Solis said. "I was glad to see that. My horse was so relaxed, at that point I felt I was in control. I knew this horse could sit because he's a way better horse than he used to be. You can do just about anything with him now. He's just a good horse."
Baze found himself in front at the break.
"He broke great and I just went on with him," he said. "He ran his tail off all the way. He had a good trip and did everything perfect. No excuses."
Odds-on favorite Precious Kitten, winner of The Matriarch here in November, returned to score a 2 1/4-length victory over pacesetter Diamond Diva in the $283,000 Gamely Stakes earlier on the program.
The victory was the eighth in 21 starts for the Bobby Frankel-trained mare, who covered 1 1/8 miles on the Lakeside Turf Course in 1:45.23. The victory was a record eighth for the Hall of Fame trainer in the Grade I event.
"I only had two choices, go for the lead or put her second," jockey Rafael Bejarano said. "I let her break and tried to get her to the lead, but when I saw that other horse (Diamond Diva) rush up, I let her go and sat second. I was a little surprised that the other horse wanted the lead, but my filly was very relaxed with the trip. It was a perfect trip and very easy for me today."
Mike Smith, the rider on second choice Diamond Diva, would have preferred a slower pace.
"I knew there wasn't much speed so I tried to steal off," he said. "That was the game plan. But she ran dynamite. She was a little aggressive early and I had a little trouble getting her to relax, but she still ran great."
Rutherienne, 1½ lengths back of Diamond Diva in third place, had upset Precious Kitten when they last met in the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April.
"My filly ran good," jockey Corey Nakatani said. "I was trying to track Precious Kitten, but turning for home they kicked away from me and I couldn't get to them."
Precious Kitten, owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables, paid $4.40 while banking $150,000 to increase her earnings to $1,602,088.
