Verbal replicated his impressive debut victory when he came flying late to win the GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. at Del Mar Sunday.
The bay colt was unhurried from his outside post and was well back as longshot pacesetters Groovy Huey (Dad Caps) and Get Back Goldie (Goldencents) ran away from the field through fractions of :22.04 and :46.10. Get Back Goldie took over entering the far turn, but the field was quickly closing in on the pacesetters. Verbal made rapid progress while four wide into the stretch and he closed relentlessly to get his nose on the line first.
“He won easy last time, but that was against maidens,” said winning rider Jose Ortiz. “He was running against winners today, much better horses. I knew there would be speed in the race so, even though I had the outside post, I was able to drop over and save some ground. He came running when it counted. The boss [trainer Chad Brown] knows how to spot a horse. He had it right today.”
Verbal came from well out of it to win his debut going one mile over the Belmont lawn and that victory gave connections the confidence to pre-enter the colt in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. He failed to get into that race and was rerouted to the DeMille.
Pedigree Notes:
Verbal became the second group/graded winner for Flintshire (GB), who will stand the 2022 breeding season at Haras de Montaigu Farm in France after opening his stud career with five seasons at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Kentucky. The stallion, a Grade/Group 1 winner in the U.S., Hong Kong, and France for Juddmonte, has also sired French Group 3 winner Cheshire Academy (Fr) and stakes winner and multiple graded placed Runaway Rumour.
Endless Chat, whose first foal was 2020 GIII Holy Bull S. third-place finisher Toledo (Into Mischief), produced a colt by Arrogate in 2020 and a colt by Into Mischief in 2021. She was bred back to Kantharos. The mare is a half-sister to Group 1 placed Teletext (Empire Maker) and multiple graded placed Seismic Wave (Tapit). Toledo sold for $275,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale and was exported to Saudi Arabia.
Sunday, Del Mar
CECIL B. DEMILLE S.-GIII, $102,500, Del Mar, 11-28, 2yo, 1mT, 1:36.16, fm.
1–VERBAL, 120, c, 2, by Flintshire (GB)
1st Dam: Endless Chat, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Conference Call (GB), by Anabaa
3rd Dam: Phone West, by Gone West
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Chad C. Brown;
J-Jose L. Ortiz. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $109,500.
*1/2 to Toledo (Into Mischief), GSP, $109,563. Werk Nick
Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Barsabas, 120, g, 2, Tale of the Cat–Indy's Million, by
A.P. Indy. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($22,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Christopher Drakos and Ryan
Hanson; B-Charles Fipke (KY); T-Ryan Hanson. $20,000.
3–Cabo Spirit, 120, c, 2, Pioneerof the Nile–Fancy Day (Ire), by
Shamardal. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $575,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR).
O-Kretz Racing LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-George
Papaprodromou. $12,000.
Margins: HF, NO, 1 1/4. Odds: 1.00, 49.90, 8.80.
Also Ran: Lottery Pick, Optimising (Ire), Derecho Dandy, Khantaro d'Oro, Stotland, Get Back Goldie, Groovy Huey. Scratched: Il Capitano. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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