DEL MAR – Three-year-old filly Lethal Heat beat the boys and her own track record for seven furlongs on Polytrack yesterday, winning the 21st running of the $108,900 Real Good Deal Stakes.
Possibly next, a week from today: stretching out to 1 1/8 miles on turf and facing her own gender in the $350,000 Del Mar Oaks.
That may seem ambitious. But the California-bred daughter of Unusual Heat, trained by Barry Abrams and ridden for the first time yesterday by Garrett Gomez, made it seem possible with her performance.
Taken back to sixth in the field of eight – the other seven being colts or geldings – after breaking sharply, 2-1 Lethal Heat charged through a seam in a wall of horses at the top of the stretch to engage Young Joe for the lead, then prevailed by a half-length over the 13-1 shot. Dancing in Silks, the 8-5 favorite, was third, a head behind Young Joe.
The winning time of 1:21.95 was a half-second faster than Lethal Heat had run in taking the Fleet Treat Stakes here on July 20. Lethal Heat became the first filly to win the Real Good Deal and the first to sweep the seven-furlong series for California-breds.
Abrams, who also owns Lethal Heat in partnership with Madeline Auerbach and Ron McCauley, said he looked at yesterday's race as an opportunity for a seven-furlong workout, win or lose.
“She needed the work and we just figured we could go 1:22 and make $60,000 instead of working seven furlongs (in the morning) and getting nothing,” Abrams said. The winner's share of the purse was actually $65,340 and raised Lethal Heat's earnings to $384,528 from six wins in eight career starts.
“Now we'll get ready for the Oaks,” Abrams said. “We'll have to see how she comes out of this race. If she comes out of the race tired, we'll just wait for the Rancho Bernardo ($200,000, Grade III, Aug. 24).
“But if she's feeling and acting as good as she was today, we'll run in the Oaks.”
Kool Comic set fractions of 22.76 and 45.41 seconds to the half-mile with Young Joe a length behind. Young Joe was a length in front of Lethal Heat in 1:09.47 for three-quarters.
“I was following horses until we made the lane, then I split a pair and thought she was going to go right on by,” Gomez said. “But I had to work a little harder than I thought.
“When I squeezed it, she gave it to me. She was a runner.”
The Real Good Deal was a meet-leading fourth stakes win for Gomez and one of three victories for him on the day. Gomez travels to Chicago today for rides on the Arlington Million program.
The riding triple gave Gomez 15 wins for the meeting, nine behind leader Rafael Bejarano and three behind second-place Tyler Baze and Joel Rosario.
Arlington Million
It's Arlington Million Day, the biggest racing day of the year in Chicago. Arlington Park in the suburb of Arlington Heights will be the site of the 26th running of the Arlington Million, the first race in North America to offer a seven-figure purse, as well as the $750,000 Beverly D and the $400,000 Secretariat.
All are Grade I events on the turf.
The Million, at 1¼ miles, attracted an international field of eight. Archipenko, a Kentucky-bred 4-year-old son of Kingmambo who has compiled earnings approaching $2 million from five wins in 13 starts in five countries and two continents, is the 2-1 opening-line favorite.
Archipenko, with the South African trainer and jockey combination of Michael de Kock and Kevin Shea, notched his biggest win in the Group I Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong in April.
English import Mount Nelson, a winner of the Group I Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, is the 5-2 second choice, and Einstein, America's best hope, will open at 7-2.
The Beverly D, 1 3/16 miles for older fillies and mares, has a field of nine. Precious Kitten, whose three Grade I stakes victories include last year's John C. Mabee at Del Mar, is the 9-5 opening-line favorite.
Precious Kitten will be ridden by Bejarano. Kent Desormeaux will be aboard Mauralakana, the 3-1 second choice. Gomez has the mount on 7-2 local favorite Dreaming of Anna.
Gomez also rides Tizdejavu, the 6-5 favorite in a field of nine for the 1¼ -mile Secretariat for 3-year-olds.
Post time for the Secretariat is approximately 1:12 p.m. PDT. The Beverly D is scheduled for 1:50, the Million for 2:44. The races are to be televised by ESPN from 1:30-3 p.m. PDT.
Hank Wesch: (619) 293-1853; hank.wesch@uniontrib.com
