DEL MAR – Azul Leon remained undefeated and Kelly Leak embellished a bad boy image, deserved or not but certainly consistent with that inherited from his cinematic namesake, in a controversial ending to the Best Pal Stakes yesterday.

Kelly Leak, ridden by Victor Espinoza, crossed under the finish line a nose in front of Azul Leon and Rafael Bejarano in the $150,000, Grade II event for 2-year-olds that is generally a steppingstone for the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity.

Coronet of a Baron (Corey Nakatani) was third, three-quarters of a length behind Azul Leon and 1¾ lengths in front of Charlie's Moment (Jon Court).

But stewards posted the inquiry sign and, after about 10 minutes, ruled that Kelly Leak had been the cause of a four-horse accordion situation when all were in full flight to the wire in the final 200 yards, resulting in Charlie's Moment having to check and lose the opportunity for a placing.

From the outside in at the moment of compaction and bumping the order was Kelly Leak, Azul Leon, Charlie's Moment and Coronet of a Baron.

Kelly Leak, named for the juvenile delinquent/standout Little Leaguer played by Jackie Earle Hailey in the 1976 movie “Bad News Bears,” was disqualified and dropped to fourth. The other three were moved up one notch each.

Thus, Azul Leon extended his record to 3-for-3 and added the Best Pal to a stakes victory in the Hollywood Juvenile.

Stewards C. Scott Chaney, Tom Ward and Randy Winick came to a unanimous decision.

“Whenever we take a horse down it's an important decision because we're dealing with the racing public and their betting dollars,” Chaney said. “And this is a $150,000 race and it means a lot more to the connections.

“So there was some pressure. But in the end it was not a particularly difficult decision.”

The variety of opinions in response to the ruling also varied in intensity.

“I can't agree. Not at all,” Espinoza said. “It's not my fault if the other jockey (Court) can't ride his horse. He just happened to be in the wrong place. I was riding my horse and riding my race. That's all.”

Court: “That was a dangerous situation. . . . I was trying to stay clear of Corey and trying to ride my horse. But I couldn't. My horse was just starting to roll and then I couldn't do anything.”

Nakatani: “I was just trying to ride my horse and hold my ground. They came and got me. It cost me.”

And Bejarano: “He (Espinoza) was coming in on me. He cost me the race. . . . My horse deserved to win.”

The DQ victory was worth $90,000 to the owning Joseph Lacombe Stable Inc. and nearly doubled the Lion Heart colt's career earnings to $182,400. Joseph Lacombe Jr., a San Diego County resident, represented the family in the winner's circle.

Doug O'Neill, trainer of Azul Leon, was talking to gathered media in the winner's circle after the race when his image went up on the giant infield screen. O'Neill's words were almost drowned out by boos from fans in the grandstand who apparently disagreed with the ruling.

“We love to win, but hate to win under these circumstances,” O'Neill had been saying. “It definitely looked like the horse had to alter his course. Rafael wanted to go outside, but he felt like that had been taken away from him, so he bounced inside and it got pretty tight in there.

“It was tough for the horses, too. There were four gutsy 2-year-olds going for the wire. I feel as if Azul Leon had clear sailing he could have gotten up (to win).”

Connections for Azul Leon and Kelly Leak indicated that neither was likely to come back in the Futurity. Instead they will likely meet in the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 28 and, if all goes well, again in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile there on Oct. 25.