1st-Del Mar, $81,000, Msw, 9-4, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:03.59, ft, 6 3/4 lengths.
HUNTINGCOCO (f, 2, Practical Joke–Sulis, by Maria's Mon) was dismissed at odds of 36-5, largely due to the presence of $950,000 Keeneland September grad and 1-2 chalk Carla (Medaglia d'Oro), slipped through inside entering the final eighth of a mile and kicked away to best her heavily favored stable companion by a convincing margin in Sunday's opener from Del Mar. Away without incident, Huntingcoco showed ample speed and chased from along the inside in second as She's Inthearmynow (Army Mule) had the most early interest from her outside draw. Asked to come after the pacesetter with 2 1/2 furlongs to travel, Huntingcoco took full advantage when the front-runner rolled away from the fence in upper stretch and powered home to score with good-looking strides. Carla was beaten for speed and had her momentum interrupted when having to steady slightly off the heels of She's Inthearmynow approaching the half-mile marker. Under the bat nearing the stretch, she raced on her incorrect lead, but managed to grind it out for second. A Pennsylvania-bred, Huntingcoco is a veteran of three sales rings, having matured from a $45,000 KEENOV weanling into a $110,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling. She was last seen going through the latter auction house's Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where she fetched $200,000 after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 2/5. Out of a half-sister to the stakes-winning dam of GISW I'm the Tiger (Siphon {Brz}), Huntingcoco has a yearling half-brother by Classic Empire and a foal half-sister by American Freedom. Sulis visited Instagrand this term. Sales history: $45,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT; $200,000 2yo '22 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Villa Rosa Farm & Harlo Racing; B-HnR Nothhaft Horseracing LLC (PA); T-Bob Baffert.
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