Nooni. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
DMTC Press Box
DEL MAR, Calif.—Heavily favored Nooni outran three rivals to come away with her first stakes win in the 56th edition of the Sorrento Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs. The 1/2 favorite was a length and a half best at the wire.
The winner, a $1.8-million 2-year-old-in-training purchase this past March in Florida by Zedan Racing Stables, was scoring her second victory in her second start. In both cases, trainer Bob Baffert had rider Juan Hernandez in the irons.
The Grade III Sorrento carried a purse of $150,000 and rewarded the winner with $ 90,000. Nooni now has $122,400 in earnings.
Finishing second in the dash was Medallion Racing, Aldabbagh or Strauss’ Vodka With a Twist, who had three and a quarter lengths on Pegram, Watson and Weitman’s Casalu.
Nooni returned $3.00 to win and $2.20 to place. There was no show betting in the short field. Final time for the six panels was 1:10.41.
FRACTIONS: :21.87 :44.90 :57.42 1:10.41
Racing will be back on Sunday at Del Mar with a first post of 2 p.m.
Zedan Racing Stables is the nom du course for winning owner Amr F. Zedan, a Saudi Arabian businessman who is headquartered in Lexington, KY.
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Nooni, winner) – “She was really comfortable. She was really quick out of the gate. I had to push her a little at the end, but we did it. I asked her to run around the quarter pole and she switched leads and picked it up really well. You know, she gave me another good breath and she took another good step. It’s only her second race but she looks really good so far. Can’t wait to see how she improves.”
The stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Hernandez and his second (Elm Drive, 2021) in the Sorrento. He now has 47 stakes wins at Del Mar.
BOB BAFFERT (Nooni, winner) – “When you’re on the inside like that you have to go. I was hoping they wouldn’t be battling each other. They went fast early but I like the way Nooni kept on going. I haven’t really trained her that hard, but she’s just got real class. 2-year-old, second out, you don’t know how they’re going to respond to the dirt, but these are nice fillies.”
The stakes win was the second of the meet for trainer Baffert and his eighth in the Sorrento. He now has a Del Mar leading 170 stakes wins at the seaside oval.
