Irideo ($40.60) and Laprida notch upset in Clocker's Corner Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Irideo was jockey Jeremy Laprida’s fourth career mount at Santa Anita in Sunday’s $101,500 Clocker’s Corner Stakes, and first on the track’s unique hillside turf course.

Laprida, who recently moved from Parx Racing to California, rode the course like a veteran to record an upset victory.

Laprida, 28, guided Irideo on the inside through the stretch to win by a nose over 4-1 Mucho Del Oro. Irideo, the longest shot in a field of eight, paid $40.60, and ran about 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:12.12. Irideo earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97, which equals his career-best.

Over the weekend, Laprida met with trainer Marcelo Polanco to discuss race tactics.

“I studied the race with Marcelo,” Laprida said. “That was the plan. Stay on the rail. Let him go.”

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Irideo was sixth with a furlong remaining, trailing Mucho Del Oro by 3 1/2 lengths. Irideo closed rapidly in the final sixteenth to reach the front in the nick of time.

“It was very tight,” Laprida said. “I thought I won.”

Mucho Del Oro, ridden by Juan Hernandez, had his first start on Sunday since a win in a starter allowance last June in which he was claimed for $50,000.

In the Clocker’s Corner Stakes, restricted to non-winners of a graded stakes since Jan. 1, 2023, Mucho Del Oro tracked pacesetter Hamwood Flier through a quick pace of 21.43 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 43.64 for a half-mile before taking the lead.

Mucho Del Oro led by two lengths with a furlong remaining.

Hernandez said Mucho Del Oro lost momentum in the final sixteenth.

“He might have needed the race,” he said. “I was happy with the effort.”

Sumter, the 5-2 favorite, closed from seventh to finish third, followed by Daniel’s Magic, Hamwood Flier, Johnny Podres, I’m A Gambler and Standing O.

Irideo, an 8-year-old gelding, was the oldest runner in the Clocker’s Corner Stakes. A winner of 6 of 23 starts, Irideo ended a 12-race losing streak on Sunday since a 31-1 upset win in the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar in the summer of 2022.

Irideo was second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita last May. The Clocker’s Corner Stakes was Irideo’s first start since a fifth in an allowance race at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Dec. 3 in which he was eligible to be claimed for $80,000.

“We’ve given him more time between races,” Polanco said. “We’ve been pointing to this race.”

Irideo, a Group 1 winner in Argentina in his final start in that country in 2020, races for Jose Cerillo’s Pozo de Luna, and has earned $394,344.

Polanco said the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile, a $300,000 turf race on March 2, will be considered for Irideo.

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