Chad Brown stablemates Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) and Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}) took their show on the road, but the result was the same as once again Juddmonte Farms' Viadera got the best of her gutsy rival to win the GI Matriarch S. with a dramatic late surge at Del Mar Sunday. When the duo last met, Viadera was just able to get her nose in front on the line after Blowout set a torrid pace in the Sept. 25 GIII Noble Damsel S. at Belmont Park.
Blowout zipped out to the early lead at Del Mar Sunday, was clear around the first turn and completed the opening quarter in :22.62, but Juddmonte homebred Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}) surged to the lead midway down the backstretch and was two lengths in front of Blowout through a half in :45.63 as Viadera remained unhurried near the back of the pack. Juliet Foxtrot was still in front at the top of the lane, but Blowout reengaged that foe as they passed the three-quarters in 1:09.37. The Peter Brant colorbearer took a slim lead with a furlong to run, but Viadera was finding a seam to run through and closed powerfully to just get on top on the line.
“I had to work for that one,” admitted winning rider Joel Rosario. “She's a good filly, a really good filly. But she makes you work. I had to stay after her. She can run, though, there's no doubt. I'm lucky that Chad Brown gives me an opportunity like this. Grass horses and especially fillies. He's the best.”
Viadera's win capped a successful holiday weeked on the west coast for Brown, who also won the GI Hollywood Derby and GIII Jimmy Durante S. and was second in the GII Seabiscuit S.
“This weekend has been amazing,” said Brown's longtime assistant Jose Hernandez. “I didn't know which filly was the winner, but I'm happy it turned out to be Viadera. My boss Chad Brown is an amazing trainer and I just do my best for him. It's an amazing job for me and I love the horses. In the future, I don't know when it would be, if Chad wanted to come out here with a string, I'd like that. We like it out here.”
Group placed in Ireland with trainer Ger Lyons, Viadera was transferred to Chad Brown this summer. Fourth behind fellow Brown trainee Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) while making her stateside debut over a yielding turf course in the June 6 GIII Intercontinental S., she earned her first U.S. win in the July 17 De La Rose S. at Saratoga. She made it two in a row when she nailed Blowout on the line to win the Noble Damsel last time out.
Pedigree Notes:
Sacred Shield produced a full-sister to the winner last year and a colt by Camacho (GB) this year. The mare is a half-sister to the dam of Group 1 winner Passage of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and to the dam of multiple Group 1 winner Twice Over (GB) (Observatory).
Viadera is one of 10 graded winners for Bated Breath and one of two in the U.S. His Simply Breathless (GB) won last year's GIII Wilshire S. The Juddmonte stallion has been represented stateside this year by stakes winner and multiple graded placed Feel Glorious (GB). Last year, his Daayeh (GB) was second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Sunday, Del Mar
MATRIARCH S.-GI, $301,500, Del Mar, 11-29, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:33.03, fm.
1–VIADERA (GB), 123, f, 4, by Bated Breath (GB)
1st Dam: Sacred Shield (GB), by Beat Hollow (GB)
2nd Dam: Quandary, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
3rd Dam: Lost Virtue, by Cloudy Dawn
1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Juddmonte Farms, Inc.; B-Juddmonte
Farms Ltd. (GB); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Joel Rosario. $180,000.
Lifetime Record: 13-6-1-1, $391,441. *1/2 to Crossed Baton
(GB) (Dansili (GB)), MSW & GSP-Eng, GSP-Fr, $141,509.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A.
2–Blowout (GB), 123, f, 4, by Dansili (GB)
1st Dam: Beauty Parlour (GB), by Deep Impact (Jpn)
2nd Dam: Bastet (Ire), by Giant's Causeway
3rd Dam: Benediction (Ire), by Day Is Done (Ire)
(€450,000 Wlg '16 GOFNOV). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Dayton
Investments Ltd. (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $60,000.
3–Juliet Foxtrot (GB), 123, m, 5, by Dansili (GB)
1st Dam: Kilo Alpha (GB), by King's Best
2nd Dam: Anasazi (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Navajo Princess, by Drone
O-Juddmonte Farms, Inc.; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd. (GB);
T-Brad H. Cox. $36,000.
Margins: NO, HF, NK. Odds: 5.40, 4.70, 5.90.
Also Ran: Sharing, Maxim Rate, Tamahere (Fr), She's Our Charm, Bodhicitta (GB). Scratched: Mucho Unusual.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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