Getaway Car speeds away in Best Pal Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. - When Getaway Car turned into the stretch of Sunday’s Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar, he led by 2 1/2 lengths, leaving jockey Juan Hernandez thinking as much about the colt’s next race as the final furlongs on Sunday.

Getaway Car cruised through the stretch of the $147,000 Best Pal Stakes to win by an easy 5 1/2 lengths as the 3-10 favorite. He was not urged in the final furlong in a key prep race for the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 8.

“When he got to the quarter-pole, he put his ears up and that’s a good sign,” Hernandez said. “I was thinking of him for the next one.”

The $300,000 Del Mar Futurity is run at seven furlongs and is the top race of the summer for 2-year-olds in California. Bob Baffert, who trains Getaway Car, won the Best Pal for a record 11th time on Sunday. He has won the Del Mar Futurity a record 17 times.

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Getaway Car ($2.60) will start favored in the Del Mar Futurity after his win on Sunday. He is unbeaten in two starts.

Breaking from the outside in a field of four, Getaway Car took the lead strides away from the gate and had an advantage of 1 1/2 lengths after a quarter-mile in 22.20 seconds.

“He broke in front and I decided to let him go,” Hernandez said. “He’s really fast and he was comfortable the whole way.”

The chasing trio never got closer. Getaway Car ran six furlongs in 1:10.73 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85.

Mischief River, the winner of a maiden race at Los Alamitos on June 29, was second throughout at 5-1 and finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of 7-2 White Sands, a filly. Tiz Happy (10-1) trailed throughout. Ivan the Great, a maiden who was stakes-placed at Churchill Downs in June, was scratched on Sunday morning.

Mischief River is another candidate for the Del Mar Futurity, trainer James Glenn, Jr. said.

“I was happy with him,” Glenn said. “He got a little tired. It sets him up for seven furlongs. Our ultimate goal is two turns.

“Bob’s horse is lightning fast and going short, a problem.”

Getaway Car, by Curlin, was purchased for $700,000 as a yearling and is owned by a large partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable and Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stable.

The colt has earned $135,000 from two wins, beginning with a maiden race at Del Mar on July 20.

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