Midnight Memories made her two-turn and stakes debut a winning one when resolutely holding off favored Desert Dawn to capture the GIII Torrey Pines S. Sunday at Del Mar.
Scoring first out at 4-5 with a 95 Beyer going 6 1/2 furlongs Apr. 30 at Santa Anita, the homebred repeated by a neck after stumbling at the start in an allowance/optional claimer there June 5 before disappointing when a well-beaten third as the chalk with blinkers added here July 28.
Taking the blinkers off for this test, the dark bay made the lead without much resistance under Ramon Vazquez and showed the way through a :23.25 quarter. Desert Dawn, third at the rail, moved off the fence to take up the chase as the half went up in :46.95. The favorite picked up the pressure around the turn and she and Midnight Memories passed three-quarters in 1:11.23 on even terms. Midnight Memories never relinquished the lead however, and started to do the better work around the eighth pole, holding firm from there to score.
“She broke well and we were going easy on the lead,” said Vazquez. “Then when it came time, she dug in down the stretch. She's a very nice filly. I'm so happy to be riding at the meet for the first time and doing well. I wanted to ride for someone like Bob Baffert and here I am. Today I rode two horses for him and both were winners. It's exciting.”
Pedigree Notes:
Midnight Memories is the first stakes winner for Claiborne Farm's second-crop stallion Mastery, who retired with a perfect four-for-four record, three of those wins coming in graded stakes company. She is the second foal to race out of Tiz Midnight, who broke her maiden by 11 1/2 lengths with a 102 Beyer in her fourth career start and later won the GII Bayakoa S. Second dam Tough Tiz's Sis was a six-time stakes winner who ended her career with a 12 1/4-length romp and 113 Beyer in the 2008 GI Ruffian H. Tiz Midnight is responsible for a yearling colt by Collected and foaled a filly by Maximum Security this season before being bred to McKinzie.
Sunday, Del Mar
TORREY PINES S.-GIII, $125,500, Del Mar, 9-4, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:36.32, ft.
1–MIDNIGHT MEMORIES, 120, f, 3, by Mastery
1st Dam: Tiz Midnight (GSW & GISP, $339,800), by Midnight Lute
2nd Dam: Tough Tiz's Sis, by Tiznow
3rd Dam: Leaseholder, by Taylor's Falls
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Michael
Pegram, Paul Weitman & Karl Watson (KY); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Ramon A. Vazquez. $75,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1,
$166,680. Werk Nick Rating: B.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Desert Dawn, 124, f, 3, Cupid–Ashley's Glory, by Honour and
Glory. ($32,000 RNA Ylg '20 OBSOCT). O/B-H & E Ranch (AZ);
T-Philip D'Amato. $25,000.
3–Grace Adler, 120, f, 3, Curlin–Our Khrysty, by Newfoundland.
($700,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Willow Grace Farm & Michael
Lund Petersen; B-Blue Heaven Farm (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$15,000.
Margins: 3/4, 4 1/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 5.50, 1.20, 6.10.
Also Ran: Cinnamon Cat, Under the Stars, Malibu Marie. Scratched: Kirstenbosch.
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