Dreaming of Alys ($125.20) returns record Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf win payoff

A lightly raced filly who had never raced two turns, and never raced on grass, scored a crazy upset Saturday in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf around two turns.

Dreaming of Alys rallied from midpack under jockey Diego Herrera to win the turf mile and return $125.20, highest win payoff in the 14-year history of the stakes.

Phil D’Amato trains Dreaming of Alys, who won by a length over 75-1 longshot Pentle Bay. The one-two finishers were the highest odds in the field; the $1 exacta paid $1,213.70. Hypergamy finished third, D’Amato-trained favorite Yours Sincerely finished fourth. South Bay, who set the pace as second betting choice, wilted and finished eighth.

Dreaming of Alys was making her third start, and second for D’Amato. The turf stakes had to go better than her previous start at Del Mar. Dreaming of Alys, who was purchased privately after winning her debut in a maiden dirt sprint in June at Laurel, misfired in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes on dirt. She was visibly uncomfortable with the kickback, and finished last of six.

D’Amato worked Dreaming of Alys on turf two times after the Sorrento, and saw enough from the filly to enter in a relatively wide-open Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf. She benefitted Saturday from a trouble-free trip.

Dreaming of Alys tucked two-wide midpack, rallied wide on the far turn, and held sway in a modest 1:37.71. Pentle Bay, a maiden who finished fifth in her debut, rallied from last to second. Hypergamy, who rallied three-wide on the far turn and made the lead in the stretch, flattened out to third.

Dreaming of Alys, now 2 for 3, was sired by Upstart; her owners are Agave Racing Stable, Medallion Racing and Evan Trommer.

The beaten favorite Yours Sincerely had no excuse. After scoring an impressive maiden win in her U.S. debut, Yours Sincerely regressed. She was positioned near the rear of the field, as expected, but did not finish with as much energy as her first local start.

“I was where I thought she’d be,” jockey Ricky Gonzalez said. “I had a good trip. I didn’t have the same kick as her last race. I know she’s better than that.”

Simon Callaghan, the trainer of longshot runner-up Pentle Bay, ran his second-start maiden in the stakes race only because she was excluded from an oversubscribed maiden race.

“We thought she'd like the grass and we knew she was fit,” Callaghan said. “We wanted to go in the maiden race and we got excluded. It was either this race or wait. She’s a filly with a big pedigree.” Pentle Bay, sired by Uncle Mo and produced by a Grade 3 winner, will be tough next out in a maiden race.

As for the juvenile filly turf division, the upset win by Dreaming of Alys left more questions than answers. The final time was slow, and favorites Yours Sincerely and South Bay both misfired.

They could get another chance next month at Santa Anita. The next turf stakes for 2-year-old fillies is the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes, a turf mile on Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.

The significance of the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf is usually marginal. In the 13-year history of the race, eight winners subsequently ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. None of the eight finished in the money; the highest finish was seventh.

- Additional reporting by Steve Andersen

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