Show Card romps in Tranquility Lake; Hot Girl Walk takes advantage of duel in Generous Portion

DEL MAR, Calif. – Monday at Del Mar was an unfortunate day for odds-on favorites in stakes.

In the $100,000 Tranquility Lake, race 3 for older fillies and mares, Super Shine broke horribly and finished 10 lengths behind winner Show Card ($5.40).

In the $100,000 Generous Portion, race 5 for California-bred 2-year-old fillies, odds-on Cayucos was cooked in a pace duel and finished a distant third behind winner Hot Girl Walk ($13).

Show Card’s first attempt at route racing may have been a mess, but her second route was a beauty. Show Card won the Tranquility Lake by 10 lengths while making her first start since she finished last by nearly 20 lengths in June in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks.

“The last race, it wasn’t fair,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “She was a mess, she lost it in the paddock, she just lost it. She ran five races going to the gate.”

Show Card needed to settle down, and she did.

“We got her down here [to Del Mar] and got her to relax,” Baffert said. “She’s matured, she’s filled out, and her mind’s right.”

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It showed in the Tranquility Lake, a restricted stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on dirt. She also benefitted by an unfortunate takeoff by odds-on Super Shine, who hesitated when the gates opened, veered out sharply, broke last, and lost all chance.

Meanwhile, Show Card and jockey Juan Hernandez broke running and pressed pacesetter Yuki. When the favorite Super Shine made a middle move inside, Show Card was three wide on the far turn. No problem.

She cruised to the lead at the quarter pole and widened through the lane. Her final time was slow, a mile in 1:37.88, but the margin of victory was telling. Super Shine finished second, followed by Yuki, Ascendancy, and Liberal Lady. Grace Period scratched.

The win by Show Card was the second stakes win of the weekend by a Baffert-trained 3-year-old filly. Hope Road crushed the Grade 3 Torrey Pines on Saturday. Asked how he planned to keep them apart, Baffert did not have an immediate answer.

“That’s a good problem to have,” he said.

Meanwhile, Baffert-trained Grade 1 winner Adare Manor is biding her time and recovering from an internal setback that forced her to scratch from the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. She tied up two days before the race. Baffert said Adare Manor is only being walked for the time being.

Two races after the Tranquility Lake, juvenile fillies raced six furlongs in the Generous Portion. Bettors made Cayucos odds-on, but when she and longshot Thirsty in Vegas hooked up in a pace duel and faded, the race fell into the lap of Hot Girl Walk.

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A last-out maiden winner for trainer Carla Gaines and owner Richard Barton, Hot Girl Walk was making her third start of the meet. She was revved up in the paddock, but fell into a perfect trip in the race.

Antonio Fresu positioned her third on the outside, behind the pace. She rallied three wide into the lane and won by 1 1/4 lengths over CTBA Stakes winner In the Air Tonight. It was 14 lengths farther back to Cayucos. The order of finish was completed by Thirsty Mama, Thirsty in Vegas, and Nostri Vires. The final time was 1:11.28.

There was a stewards’ inquiry into an incident at the quarter pole, where Thirsty in Vegas steadied while dropping out of it. No change.

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