Sneaking Out pulls away in powerful Rancho Bernardo Handicap win
DEL MAR, Calif. – Sneaking Out on Friday at Del Mar made her fourth start of 2020 at her fourth different track with her fourth different rider, but this match may stick. Umberto Rispoli, the leading rider here this summer, won his fourth race on the card aboard Sneaking Out in the Grade 3, $101,500 Rancho Bernardo Handicap, a win that looked visually impressive and was confirmed as such by Rispoli.
Sneaking Out was part of a four-way battle for the early lead in the 6 1/2-furlong race, then spat out those rivals like errant bugs and powered clear for a 3 3/4-length victory.
“At the top of the stretch, she switched leads and bang,” Rispoli told trainer Jerry Hollendorfer after the race.
The win was the third of the year for Sneaking Out and her second straight in a graded stakes, following the Grade 2 Great Lady M. on July 4 at Los Alamitos. She is clearly on the improve, giving Hollendorfer the hope she could develop into a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
“That was better and more impressive,” Hollendorfer said. “She had more weight and still won. She seems to be getting better. I think she has more that she can do.”
Sneaking Out carried top weight of 123 pounds, four more than she had carried in the Great Lady M. The race also unfolded in a more difficult manner, as she was three lanes wide in a four-ply battle for the lead through splits of 22.35 seconds for the quarter and 45.35 for the half.
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Artistic Diva wilted first, then Mother of Dragons, and finally Amuse couldn’t stay with Sneaking Out, who passed six furlongs in 1:09.34 en route to a final time of 1:15.57 on the fast main track.
As the 9-5 favorite, Sneaking Out paid $5.60.
Amuse just held second in a three-way photo, nosing out the late-running Gingham, with Unique Factor taking the worst of the photo. Mucho Amor, Mother of Dragons, Into Chocolate, and Artistic Diva completed the field.
Sneaking Out, 4, a California-bred daughter of Indian Evening, was bred and is owned by the KMN Racing of Northern California residents Kevin and Kim Nish. She has now won six times in 12 starts, plus four seconds, and the $60,000 she earned Friday brought her career total to $491,441.