Hughes wins the Del Mar Futurity with ease, Benoit Photo
Del Mar Press
Hughes, a well-made juvenile colt by super sire Into Mischief, walked his beat in fine fashion Sunday at Del Mar as he came away a four and three-quarter length victor in the 79th edition of the Grade I Del Mar Futurity.
The bay teamed up with Juan Hernandez to take down a $180,000 winner’s prize in the $300,000 feature and he did it as the 1/5 favorite in a field of five. He ran the seven furlongs in 1:22.57 and was eased late as he cruised home. His $2 payoff was $2.40.
The $675,000 yearling has now won both his starts by daylight. In doing so this time, he gave his conditioner – Hall of Famer Bob Baffert – the extraordinary mark of having won the Del Mar Futurity 20 times. Hernandez also won his meet-leading 12th stakes race.
Finishing second in Del Mar’s juvenile championship race was Reddam Racing’s Phone Booth, who had five and a quarter lengths on the show horse, Calumet Farm’s Dang Son.
Besides his purse totals, Hughes also won a Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen reward of $30,000, half the entry fee to the $2-million B.C. Juvenile, which is where he is likely to end his 2-year-old season.
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Hughes, winner) – “I was aware that this was seven eighths and I know that can sometimes be a tough one for a young horse. So I had that horse (High Pronto) inside me, but I didn’t want to push on my horse too early. He was handling it all well. I never hit him. When we straightened out, he was lugging in just a bit, so I tapped him on the left side and we were fine. He did his job today.”
BOB BAFFERT (Hughes, winner) – “He sat off the speed horse. We knew the inside horse was really fast. Juan (Hernandez) said if he had gone to the lead they would have gone faster so he relaxed. We’re still learning about these horses. He’s the kind of horse who does most of his running at the end which is what you like to see and he was taking off at the end. It’s very exciting to win this race. It all started with Silver Charm. It’s crazy. It’s a long way from Prescott Downs.”
FRACTIONS: :22.87 :45.69 1:10.00 1:22.57
The stakes win was the 12th of the meet for rider Hernandez and his second in the race (Cave Rock, 2022). He now has 77 stakes wins at Del Mar.
The stakes win was the fifth of the meet for trainer Baffert and his 20th in the race. He now has 195 stakes wins at Del Mar, far and away the most of any trainer.
The winning owners are a large collection of owners led by Front Row Club, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables.
