Hollywood Park: Carving all business in determined Real Quiet score

Benoit Photo

Carving holds the lead in deep stretch of the Real Quiet under jockey Martin Garcia.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Carving might not have been good enough to beat the elite of the West Coast’s 2-year-olds prior to the Breeders’ Cup, but afforded the opportunity to move into a softer spot on Saturday, he responded with his third victory in four lifetime starts by outfinishing Fury Kapcori and Dirty Swagg to take the $100,000 Real Quiet Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Carving ($4.20), the favorite in a field of seven, stalked the pace for the first six furlongs of the 1 1/16-mile race, bid for the lead while three paths wide on the far turn, then held off a phalanx of challengers to prevail by a half-length over Fury Kapcori, with Dirty Swagg another half-length farther back in third.

Simon Eyes, Glenco Kid, Ebony Gold, and Avare, who led early, completed the finish, in that order.

Carving, ridden by Martin Garcia, completed 1 1/16 miles on the fast Cushion Track surface in 1:46.04.

“This horse has really been a surprise,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Carving for his wife, Jill, and co-owner Bode Miller, the United States ski great. “He shows much more in the afternoons than the morning. He gets outworked by everybody.”

That laziness is one reason Carving, a colt by Any Given Saturday, debuted in a maiden-claiming race, with an $80,000 price tag, on Aug. 23 at Del Mar. He won that race, then captured the Afflerbaugh at Fairplex on Sept. 12 before fading to fourth when brought back 17 days later in the Grade 1 FrontRunner, which was won by the Baffert-trained Power Broker.

Garcia said Carving was waiting on horses once he made the front in the Real Quiet.

“I had a lot of horse,” he said. “Every time he saw somebody coming, he dug in. He improved off his first route and now with this race I think he’s going to be even better next time.”

The Real Quiet is a prep for the Grade 1, $750,000 CashCall Futurity on Dec. 15. Baffert said Carving likely would be one of several runners he has in the race. “I’m going to run as many as I can,” he said. “I’ll try to load the gate up.”