Adair Manor lived up to the expectations of the racehorses who made her the 3-5 favorite, leading from the gate to the wire in Saturday’s G1, looking relaxed at the front and pulling away to win by 5 1/2 lengths. did. , Apple Blossom Handicap at Oak Lawn is $1.25 million.
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This was the sixth graded stakes win for Michael Land Petersen’s 5-year-old mare Uncle Charlie. It was trainer Bob Baffert’s second win for Apple Blossom, the last time being with Plum Pretty in 2012. Jockey Juan Hernandez took his first win in his 1/16-mile race around two corners of Oak Lawn’s dirt track.
“I really like how she’s been training this year,” said Baffert, who was watching the race from California while assistant Jimmy Burns looked after her at Adair Manor in Arkansas. “Being freshened up a little bit helped her. I’m proud that we have a lot of great horses. It’s a blessing. To be able to go there with (Arkansas Derby G1 winner) Moose and with her We’re really lucky to be able to do that and have all these good horses. I’m so proud of them all. And when they run like that, especially her, it makes you feel so good. She seems to be a real favorite around the barn. She’s a sweetheart.”
Hernandez kept Adair Manor firmly in check for most of the race, apart from a late right-handed prompt, holding a lead of less than a length and a half in opening times of 23.68, 46.95, and 1:11.14, followed by Adair Manor. Manners caught up. He let go of the reins and ran the mile in 1:36.12. By then, Adare Manor had opened up a four-length lead on the fast track, posting a winning time of 1 minute 42.48 seconds.
Flying Connection (26-1) raced from the back of the nine-horse field, with two more ahead of third place Free Like a Girl (58-1) and Shotgun Hotty (8-1). He came in 2nd place by a horse length. Length returns to 4th place.
Adare Manor returned $3.40, $3.00, and $2.60. Flying Connection $13.60 and $7.80. and Free Like a Girl $9.40.
Adair Manor had won five races in a row, including his first Grade 1 score at Del Mar’s Clement L. Hirsch last summer. She finished a close seventh in her November Breeders’ Cup Her Distaff and had a four-month break. She came home last month in the Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita, where she finished second as the equal-money favorite.
Already a millionaire, Adair Manor has boosted his earnings to $1,736,600 and improved his record to 16:8-5-0.
