Bodacious all the way in the I’m Smokin (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Del Mar Press Release
DEL MAR, Calif.— The homebred colt Bodacious broke on top in Del Mar’s I’m Smokin Stakes Friday at the seaside course and never looked back, scoring a wire-to-wire tally in the six-furlong feature for California-bred juveniles in 1:10.17 for the six furlongs.
The winner, a son of the Union Rags sire Smokem, is owned by the partnership of Griffin Stables, Lovingier or Sabe. Terry Lovingier is the main partner and he was also the colt’s breeder.
Bodacious, who was three lengths best at the finish, was ridden by Tyler Baze and is trained by Jorge Periban. He was winning his second race in his fourth start and picked up the winner’s share of $57,000 from the $100,000 purse. He now has $93,400 in winnings. He paid $8.40 to his $2 backers.
The I’m Smokin, named for a very fast California-bred who raced in his home state in the late 1970s, is part of the Golden State Stakes series that consists of 35 races run up and down the state worth a total of $4.45 million. The I’m Smokin is the eighth and final Cal-bred stakes run at Del Mar this summer.
Finishing second in the race was Kirk and Judy Robison’s Style Cat, who was three-quarters of a length better than race favorite Shea Brennan, owned by Nick Alexander.
Racing will go again at Del Mar on Saturday with an 11-race card starting at 1:30 p.m. The feature for the day is the $300,000, Grade I Del Mar FanDuel Racing Debutante.
TYLER BAZE (Bodacious, winner) – “You know, I have been with this horse for six months now and Jorge (trainer Periban) said “This is a special one I have picked out for you,” and I’ve been with him ever since. I broke his maiden by five (lengths). I had a lot of faith in him. He is back to his old self; I am very happy in the mornings and post parade with him. And you know he proved it today that he is the right horse for this race. He ran a perfect pace today.”
JORGE PERIBAN (Bodacious, winner) – “First time I ran the horse he ran with blinkers on and he got hit from both sides by a couple of horses and I think he got a little scared. So today I took off the blinkers and it worked. He’s a nice horse. When he broke from the gate I saw him more focused and I said: ‘This is going to be the time.’ The horse was ready to go and I got lucky today.”
FRACTIONS: :22.10 :45.42 :57.79 1:10.77
The stakes win was the first of the meet for rider Baze and his first in the I’m Smokin. He now has 40 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the first of the meet for trainer Periban and his first in the I’m Smokin. He now has two stakes wins at Del Mar.
The winning owners were Griffin Stables, Lovingier or Sabesky. The main partner in the group is Terry Lovingier of Long Beach, CA. He was also the colt’s breeder.
