Moment’s Pleasure shows improved form with Solana Beach triumph

DEL MAR, Calif. - Much has changed for Moment’s Pleasure since she finished a game second in her stakes debut in the $102,500 Fran’s Valentine Stakes at Santa Anita in May.

Moment’s Pleasure followed that one-length loss with a second in an allowance race there on June 14, and a win in an allowance race at Del Mar on July 28.

In Sunday’s $152,500 Solana Beach Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at Del Mar, Moment’s Pleasure showed substantial improvement from her recent starts, closing from fourth on the turn to win the one-mile grass race by 1 3/4 lengths.

Moment’s Pleasure was one of three 3-year-olds in a field of 11 in the Solana Beach.

“She’s 3 and most of the horses in this race are 4,” trainer and co-owner Craig Lewis said. “She’s getting better and better.”

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Ridden by Hector Berrios, Moment’s Pleasure raced in fourth on the backstretch, tracking Sneaker through early fractions of 23.22 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.76 for a half-mile.

Staying on the inside, Moment’s Pleasure moved closer to the front on the turn, and rallied two-wide in early stretch. Moment’s Pleasure fought past a challenge from Stay and Scam, the winner of the Fran’s Valentine, to take the lead with more than a furlong remaining.

“It was a beautiful trip,” Lewis said. “Hector gave her a magnificent ride.”

Moment’s Pleasure ($10.80) was timed in 1:34.67 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 87. Rose Maddox (6-1) finished second, a nose in front of 22-1 Court Snort.

Cornelia Fort finished fourth, followed by Stay and Scam, Abhita, Sneaker, Safa, Ultimate Hy and Uncontrollable. Stay and Scam, the 9-10 favorite, was beaten slightly less than two lengths.

Tom’s Regret, the winner of the Pleasanton Oaks at the Alameda county fair in Pleasanton, Calif., in June was scratched in favor of the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 25, trainer Steve Miyadi said earlier on Sunday.

Lewis said he has witnessed steady progress from Moment’s Pleasure since the Fran’s Valentine in late May.

“She developed a lot since then and she showed it,” he said.

Moment’s Pleasure, who is co-owned by Rainmaker Racing, has won 3 of 8 starts and earned $221,880. The Solana Beach Stakes was Moment’s Pleasure’s third win in six starts this year, beginning with a maiden race in her 2024 debut at Santa Anita on April 6.

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