Domestic Spending finds first graded stakes win in Hollywood Derby

DEL MAR, Calif. - Domestic Spending closed from the back of a field of 11 to win his first graded stakes in Saturday’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. The performance was of little surprise to winning rider Irad Ortiz Jr.

Since Ortiz rode Domestic Spending for the first time in an allowance-race win at Belmont Park in June, he has watched the gelding develop rapidly through a limited campaign.

Domestic Spending won for the fourth time in his fifth start in the $303,000 Hollywood Derby. The only blemish on his record is a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on July 18, which was followed with a win in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby on Aug. 15.

Domestic Spending did not race again until Saturday. He was the third choice in a competitive field in the Hollywood Derby and gave Ortiz a confident vibe despite racing at the back of the field for the first five furlongs.

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“Before he was a little green,” Ortiz said. “Today, he was a straightforward.”

Get Smokin, a 30-1 outsider despite winning the Grade 2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 18, set the pace, racing more than 1 1/2 lengths in front of 5-2 favorite Smooth Like Strait through early fractions of 23.87 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.23 for a half-mile.

Get Smokin led entering the stretch, but could not sustain the effort.

“I thought we’d pull it off,” jockey Mike Smith said.

Smooth Like Strait took the lead in the final furlong, but was caught in the final strides by Domestic Spending, who won by a head. Domestic Spending ($10.40) finished 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:47.15 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 94.

Domestic Spending was fifth with a furlong remaining, trailing by three lengths.

“When I asked him at the three-eighths pole, he was ready,” Ortiz said.

Smooth Like Strait was favored on the basis of his win in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita on Oct. 18. Despite the narrow loss, trainer Michael McCarthy was as focused on 2021 immediately after the race as he was on Saturday’s defeat.

“I have a tremendous amount of faith in this horse and I think next year the sky is the limit for him,” McCarthy said.

Gufo, the winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in October and runner-up in the Saratoga Derby, rallied with a remarkable kick to finish third, beaten a neck by Smooth Like Strait.

Get Smokin held fourth, followed by Decorated Invader, Scarto, Storm the Court, Lane Way, Taishan, Kanderel, and Strongconstitution. California Kook, who finished sixth in Thursday’s Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes, and Ever Dangerous, the winner of the Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland on Nov. 6, were scratched.

Domestic Spending is trained by Chad Brown for Klaravich Stables. Brown and Ortiz teamed to win Saturday’s Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies earlier on the program with Fluffy Socks.

Domestic Spending is a British-bred gelding by Kingman, who has earned $520,900. Domestic Spending was purchased for approximately $390,000 as a yearling in England in 2018.