Bottle of Rouge possible for BC Juvenile Fillies with Del Mar Debutante victory
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DEL MAR, Calif. - Hall of Famer Mike Smith, beaming ear to ear, took the short walk from the winner’s circle to the jockey’s room after winning the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante aboard Bottle of Rouge on Saturday, but was unable to get far before he was stopped by well-wishers.
For Smith, a win at the highest level was a source of pride, his first since Subsanador won the Grade 1 California Crown at Santa Anita last September.
“I needed something like that,” he said.
At 60, Smith is the senior member of the Southern California Thoroughbred jockey’s roster, competing against riders who in some cases are half his age. Opportunities have been scarce this summer. Bottle of Rouge was Smith’s fourth win from his 52nd mount of the meeting, and his first stakes win of the season that began on July 16.
“It was a slow meet,” he said. “You hang on long enough no one can stop you.”
Bottle of Rouge is owned by Jill Baffert and trained by her husband, Bob. On Saturday, Bob Baffert was not in attendance, having traveled to Kentucky for the Keeneland September yearling sale that began on Monday.
Bottle of Rouge gave Baffert a record 12th win in the $301,000 Del Mar Debutante. Baffert had three of the seven runners in the race, including 3-5 favorite Explora, who set the pace and finished second by a length to 9-1 Bottle of Rouge. The Baffert-trained Himika, winner of the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs on Aug. 10, finished fourth.
Bottle of Rouge, by Vino Rosso, was second to Himika by six lengths in a maiden race at Santa Anita on June 12 when ridden by Kazushi Kimura. Bottle of Rouge won a maiden race by 6 3/4 lengths at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 9 when ridden by Juan Hernandez.
In the Del Mar Debutante, Hernandez rode Explora, while Kimura had the mount on Himika. Smith said Jill Baffert secured the mount for him on Bottle of Rouge.
“She insisted that (Bob) put me on,” Smith said. “I thank Jill.”
With the win, Bottle of Rouge joins the list of contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Oct. 31.
La Wally, who finished third in the Del Mar Debutante, could appear in that race, pending an expected start in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes, a $200,000 race at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 4.
La Wally, who was ridden by Antonio Fresu, was beaten 1 1/2 lengths in the Del Mar Debutante, a result that left trainer Mark Glatt frustrated. La Wally closed from sixth and was farther back than Glatt expected even though she trailed by three lengths on the backstretch.
“I thought she should have been a little closer,” Glatt said on Sunday morning.
“If she’d been a little closer, she could have been in a better position and had a chance to win the race. It was too much to overcome.
“She was getting to them at the end. It looks like the more ground, the better.”
A previous version of this article misstated Mike Smith's age. He is 60, not 59.
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