Grace Adler gives Baffert record 10th win in Del Mar Debutante
DEL MAR, Calif. – Grace Adler gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record 10th win in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sunday. Going into the race, Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas had each won the race nine times.
Baffert won his first Debutante in 1995 with Batroyale and has won the last three runnings.
History shows that Baffert’s Debutante winners command attention in the Grade 2 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita, a $200,000 race at 1 1/16 miles that will be run on Oct. 1. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies is another matter.
Of Baffert’s previous nine Debutante winners, six have won the Chandelier Stakes, which was known as the Oak Leaf Stakes through 2011. None of Baffert’s Debutante winners won the BC Juvenile Fillies, although three finished second – Excellent Meeting (1998), Chilukki (1999), and Executiveprivilege (2012).
Excellent Meeting and Chilukki were honored as champion 2-year-old filly.
Baffert has won the BC Juvenile Fillies twice, with Silverbulletday in 1998 and Indian Blessing in 2007.
Grace Adler is unbeaten in two starts. She is named for one of the lead characters in the television series “Will & Grace,” and is part-owned by Jim Burrows, who directed the series. She is also owned by Michael Petersen. The filly was purchased for $700,000 as a yearling.
In the Debutante, Grace Adler closed from sixth in a field of eight with a wide rally. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Grace Adler won by 11 1/4 lengths. Prat said after the race that Grace Adler benefited by following a fast pace that took a toll on the front-runners.
“Prat is pretty cool,” Baffert said. “He didn’t panic.”
Prat rode Grace Adler to a win in a maiden special weight race at five furlongs in her debut on July 31.
“Five-eighths was way too short,” Baffert said. “Prat knows her well and he loves the filly. She’ll get better with distance.”