King of Speed gives Stevens 100th Del Mar stakes win

DEL MAR, Calif. – The combination of a jockey with more experience than his rivals and a colt who was making his third start of the meet proved the recipe for success Sunday in the $101,725 Del Mar Juvenile Turf when 15-1 shot King of Speed made a belated bid to win the race under Gary Stevens, giving the Hall of Fame rider a milestone 100th stakes victory at Del Mar.

That total puts Stevens third all-time among jockeys here, trailing only Chris McCarron and Corey Nakatani.

Stevens, 55, gave King of Speed ($32.20) a ground-saving trip, and he closed quick enough in deep stretch to nail 2-1 favorite Hartel, who went to wandering after he made the lead. King of Speed beat him by three-quarters of a length, with Hartel a half-length in front of third-place Takeo Squared.

Rafael Bejarano, who rode Takeo Squared, claimed foul against the top two finishers, but the stewards rightly ruled no change.

“My horse was loaded. I was just hoping to get a split,” Stevens said. “He’s got some kind of acceleration.”

King of Speed was last of nine runners entering the lane after Street Image was eased, yet he passed everyone to win. He covered his final quarter-mile in less than 24 seconds to complete one mile on firm turf in 1:36.77.

This was the first win for King of Speed, who had run four times previously, including a third and a second in his last two starts, both on the Del Mar turf.

“Last time,” Stevens said of his Aug. 12 race following a race two weeks earlier, “he was coming back quickly, and I think he regressed. I expected him to run big today. The last eighth, he was rolling.”

Hartel looked home free in upper stretch, but started ducking in and out.

“He wasn’t paying attention,” said his rider, Flavien Prat. “I wish I’d have waited. But I saw the hole and went for it. Then he started looking around.”

King of Speed, a 2-year-old colt by Jimmy Creed, was purchased as a yearling for $170,000. He is owned by Del Secco DCS, which is the father-and-son team of David and John Del Secco. He is trained by Jeff Bonde.

“We’ve always really liked this horse,” Bonde said. “He finishes well. But he was kind of a teenager. He hadn’t grown into himself mentally.”

He picked a good day to step forward. First prize was $60,000.