Carlsbad breaks Del Mar track record

DEL MAR, Calif. - Carlsbad won the sixth stakes of her career and first against older fillies and mares in Friday's $200,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar.

It was arguably the finest performance of her nine-race career, resulting in a track record of 1:14.93 for 6 1/2 furlongs.

Ridden by Tyler Baze, Carlsbad dueled with Moon de French for the lead through an opening quarter-mile in 22.99 seconds, put away that filly by early stretch, and won the Grade 3 race by four lengths.

It was not the largest margin of victory in her career - she won the Arizona Juvenile Filly Stakes at Turf Paradise by 19 lengths at Turf Paradise last December - but came against the toughest field she has faced.

Carlsbad, sent off favored, paid $4.80 to win. Owned by Dennis Weir and trained by Jeff Mullins, Carlsbad, 3, has won 7 of 9 starts and $387,126. Earlier this summer, she won the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks over 1 1/16 miles.

Lady Lumberjack, another 3-year-old filly, who was third in the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap at Hollywood Park on July 18, rallied from fifth to finish second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of Golden Doc A, a 39-1 outsider in a field of nine.

While the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo was part of the Breeders' Cup Win and You're In program, offering an automatic berth to the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 6, it was unclear whether Carlsbad would take part in that race.

The Arizona-bred filly, by Rocky Bar, is not nominated to the Breeders' Cup program, and must be supplemented for a six-figure sum. Mullins was unsure after the race whether Weir would be willing to pay such a supplement.