Stay Hot rebounds with Cecil B. DeMille victory

DEL MAR, Calif. - He raced wider than expected, but displayed a more determined manner than he had earlier in his brief career.

Stay Hot won the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at a mile on turf for 2-year-olds at Del Mar on Sunday for his first stakes win, erasing the disappointment of a 10th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.

The result left winning jockey Antonio Fresu hopeful that Stay Hot can show further development through the winter. Fresu has been aboard for all five of Stay Hot’s races.

“I was very disappointed with the Breeders’ Cup,” Fresu said.

“We didn’t go thinking we would win, but he should have been capable of a good race. He didn’t show up. He came into the stretch and stopped.”

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In the $102,000 DeMille Stakes, Stay Hot broke from the outside in a field of nine. With that draw, Stay Hot was wide throughout and even farther outside than Fresu hoped to be on the turn and entering the stretch.

Stay Hot’s style was helped by a decent pace of 22 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.30 for a half-mile set by 50-1 Charge for Gold.

“I saw they were going to stop” in front of me, Fresu said. “They made me go wide.”

Stay Hot was eighth with a quarter-mile remaining and fifth by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining. Racing in the middle of the track, Stay Hot rallied to finish a neck in front of 23-1 Rothschild.

“If it was different, I could have won by more than a neck,” Fresu said.

The second choice, Stay Hot ($6.60) was timed in 1:35.89 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 71.

Rothschild finished a head in front of 6-1 Miracle Mark.

Rothschild finished sixth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs on dirt on Sept. 10, and fifth in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Oct. 7. The DeMille was not only a drop in class, but his turf debut.

“He took to the turf,” trainer Tim Yakteen said. “We were hoping he’d do that. He’s a nice horse. He’s got a good mind.”

Lord Bullingdon finished fourth in the DeMille as the 2-1 favorite. Lord Bullingdon, who won the Qatar Golden Mile Stakes at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, raced in traffic in early stretch and was beaten 1 3/4 lengths.

Charge for Gold finished fifth, followed by Deadpan, Always On Cay, Invincible and Just a Guess.

“I think he’s a good horse in the making,” Fresu said. “I think he’s developing and getting stronger.”

Stay Hot, a ridgling by Summer Front, races for trainer Peter Eurton and is owned by the partnership of Burns Racing, Exline-Border Racing, SAF Racing, the estate of Brereton Jones and William Hudock.

Purchased for $130,000 as a yearling, Stay Hot has won 2 of 5 starts and earned $116,940.

Fresu expects greater improvement in 2024.

“I think he’s a good horse in the making,” Fresu said. “I think he’s developing and getting stronger.”

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