CYPRESS – Last time she ran, Show Card won at will. This time, she needed the will to win.
The result was the same, the 3-year-old filly from Bob Baffert’s barn scoring a 1 1/4-length victory with jockey Juan Hernandez in the $125,000 Dark Mirage Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course on Saturday afternoon.
Show Card, who paid $3.40 to win, started a step slowly and was in the middle of a three-way battle for the lead on the turn for home in the 1-mile race before pulling clear in midstretch and then holding off a late bid by Coffee in Bed.
“She was strong through the stretch, and I look forward to riding her again,” Hernandez said.
Show Card is a daughter of leading U.S. stallion Into Mischief, and Hernandez is the leading rider in California, and the six times they’ve teamed up have produced four wins.
Their previous victory was by 10 lengths in the Tranquility Lake Stakes at Del Mar.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy in the Dark Mirage after the start. Show Card settled in third, just off front-runners Gila and Victorious. Coffee in Bed and jockey Kyle Frey saved ground in fourth going into the far turn.
“Juan knows her well, he knows how to ride her,” said Mike Marlow, Baffert’s Los Alamitos-based assistant. “Looked like she kind of got away a step slow. But he was smart. He picked his spot on the outside. It worked out good for us.
“She’s tough. She wants to win. She kept digging in there.”
Coffee in Bed, who has been chasing Grade I winners Sweet Azteca and Adare Manor, finished second, 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Victorious, and Indy’s Star, Gila and Ascendancy completed the order.
The Dark Mirage was the richer of two stakes at the two-week Los Alamitos thoroughbred meet that ends Sunday.
• Going into closing day, both the jockeys and trainer championships are up in the air. Edwin Maldonado leads the jockey standings with six wins, one more than Diego Herrera and Edgar Payeras. Sergio Morfin leads the trainer standings with three wins, one up on Charles Treece, Ian Kruljac, Jerry Hollendorfer, Jeff Mullins, Doug O’Neill, Craig Dollase and Jorge Periban.
• In the Pennsylvania Derby on Saturday, Preakness winner Seize the Grey ($10.60) and jockey Jaime Torres outdueled Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold and Antonio Fresu down the stretch, setting up trainer D. Wayne Lukas for a shot at the Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 2 at Del Mar. Earlier at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, leading American 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna ($2.20) won a close one over longshot Gun Song in the Cotillion Stakes.
• Fields will be drawn Sunday for the Friday, Sept. 27 opening-day card at Santa Anita. The one-month fall meet includes the Saturday, Sept. 28 California Crown card, featuring stakes with implications for the Nov. 1-2 Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar.
