7-1 on Pharoah's sister? Believe it or not

DEL MAR, Calif. – Some of the great, unexplained mysteries in life include the identity and fate of D.B. Cooper, how the Nazca Lines in Peru were carved so precisely without a view from high above, and how American Cleopatra paid 7-1 when winning her debut Sunday at Del Mar.

American Cleopatra, the 2-year-old full sister to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, was cold on the board off a 4-1 morning line but ran like a 7-5 shot, winning by two lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs and earning a spot in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante going seven furlongs Sept. 3.

Trainer Bob Baffert thought American Cleopatra could run but thought she’d be better after a race and with more distance.

“I sort of cold-watered everyone,” he said. “She wants to go long. Those genes really came through.

“We had never really turned her loose in the morning.”

Rafael Bejarano had been working American Cleopatra, but because he had to be at Monmouth on Sunday to ride American Freedom for Baffert in the Haskell Invitational, Stewart Elliott picked up the mount. Elliott has been getting many mounts from Baffert, who has been impressed with the veteran rider’s skill at working horses in the morning and his ability to quickly get horses away from the gate.

“Stewie’s good out of the gate,” Baffert said. “He got her out, and then she was rolling.”

Baffert said American Cleopatra is not as tall as American Pharoah.

“She’s shorter-legged,” he said.

But her temperament mirrors that of her famous brother.

“She’s got a good mind,” he said. “And she’s a sweetheart at the barn.”

Like American Pharoah, American Cleopatra is by Pioneerof the Nile and out of the Yankee Gentleman mare Littleprincessemma, and she was bred and is owned by Zayat Stables.

American Pharoah lost his debut but in his second start won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity.