INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Nov. 25, 2007) - Irish-bred Daytona scored a front-running victory under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in Sunday's $500,000 Hollywood Derby as eastern standout Nobiz Like Shobiz was never a serious threat in the 66th running of the Grade I event.
Daytona, winner of the Oak Tree Derby for owners Jeff Davenport, Tom Lenner, Jess Ravich and Thomas Murray in his previous start, is trained by Dan Hendricks, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a motocross accident in Riverside in 2004.
"I was scared they were going to move early on him down the backside and when they didn't, I knew it would be tough to get him," Hendricks said. "I just wanted Mike to have him comfortable. We nominated him for this last May when we had to nominate, so we thought he was a quality horse."
Daytona, who covered 1 ¼ miles on the Lakeside Turf Course in 1:59.75, set all the fractions while paying $13.20, $7.40 and $5.40 as the co-second choice in the field of ten. Medici Code, a 16-1 outsider who charged through the stretch only to finish a half-length back in second under Martin Pedroza, paid $11.40 and $7. Hawthorne Derby winner Bold Hawk, another three-quarters of a length behind with Jean-Luc Samyn up, returned $4. Twilight Meteor finished fourth, followed by Mostacolli Mort, Ten a Penny, Worldly, Nobiz Like Shobiz, Warning Zone and Augment.
Daytona, unstarted as a 2-year-old, broke his maiden while making three starts on synthetic surfaces during in the winter in Europe. He came to the United States after Alex Solis Jr. (son of jockey Alex Solis who lost his Derby mount when Patch of Blue was scratched) put the current owners' group together. Daytona won an allowance race at Del Mar in July and finished third in a division of the El Cajon at the seaside track before cruising to a 4¼-length victory at odds of 10-1 in the Oak Tree Derby. The winner's share increased his earnings to $461,390.
"He's naturally quick," Smith said. "If someone wants to out-run him, they're going to have to send to do it. Which is fine, because he'll sit off of them like he has before. He broke really well and got the jump on them. He took everything in. He was breathing right and got into a nice rhythm. When we hit the far turn he opened up and was gone."
Castellano had no excuses for the beaten favorite, who had won three of four on turf prior to Sunday.
"He broke very good and he responded to fall in right behind the speed," he said. "At about the half-mile pole I asked him and he didn't respond. Usually he explodes when I ask him. Unfortunately, not today."
In the co-featured Matriarch, meanwhile, Precious Kitten easily repelled a bid by favorite Wait a While in the stretch to post a 1 ¼-length victory in stakes record time of 1:33.63 for one mile on turf under jockey Rafael Bejarano.
The victory was the fourth consecutive in the Grade I Matriarch and a record eighth for Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who watched on television as assistant Humberto Ascanio saddled Sarah and Ken Ramsey's 4-year-old daughter of Catienus.
Bejarano, the nation's fifth-leading jockey who shipped his tack west to begin riding on a regular basis for Frankel earlier in the week, received an early dividend in the $500,000 Matriarch.
"I knew that number five (Live Life) was going to be on the lead, but I didn't want to let her get an easy lead and slow the pace," he said. "When she passed me going to the first turn, I just let her go and put my filly close to her. When that other horse (Wait a While) came up to her, I had a lot of horse left."
Precious Kitten, who won for the seventh time in 19 starts while boosting her earnings to $1,419,688 with the winner's check of $300,000, finished second to Matriarch third-place finisher Lady of Venice when making her previous Hollywood Park start in the $1-million CashCall Mile in July.
"We got a different pace today then we did in the CashCall Mile," Ascanio said. "Today most of the field was at least two lengths behind our horse in second and I think that helped."
Precious Kitten, the second choice, paid $7.60, $3.20 and $2.40. Wait a While, ridden by Garrett Gomez, returned $2.80 and $2.10, while the show payoff on Lady of Venice with Julien Leparoux up was $2.80.
"She ran well like she always does and maybe it was just a little short for her, she'll probably do a little better in a mile and an eighth," trainer Todd Pletcher said of the runner-up. "Precious Kitten kind of got the jump on us at the top of the stretch, but she ran well. She'll stay here we'll look at Santa Anita for something for her."
