DEL MAR, Calif.— Pegram, Watson and Weitman’s colt Speed Boat Beach sped to a track record in his racing debut Saturday at Del Mar when he covered five and one-half furlongs in 1:01.86. The previous record was 1:02.10.
The son of Bayern out of the mare Sophia Mia, she by Pioneerof the Nile, took the lead out of the gate in the maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds and was never headed under Flavien Prat. He set splits of :21.34, :44.17 and :55.96 en route to his record mark.
The colt is trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Bob Baffert, who also trained his sire and his dam’s sire. The dam won the 2016 Kentucky Oaks.
Speed Boat Beach fetched $200,000 at a 2-year-old-in-training sale in Florida in March. Finishing behind him Saturday were two other Baffert trainees – Zedan Racing Stables’ Hejazi (a $3.5 million 2-year-old-in-training purchase) and third was SF Racing and partners’ Fort Bragg (a $700,000 2-year-old-in-training buy).
Baffert had put 10 works into Speed Boat Beach at Los Alamitos and Del Mar prior to his Saturday start, including a local :58.60 five-furlong drill out of the gate on September 3.
The previous record was set in an overnight stakes called the Pirate’s Bounty on September 5, 2016 by the 4-year-old ridgling Power Jam, owned by Kaleem Shah. He also was trained by Baffert.
DMTC Press Release
Photo: Speed Boat Beach speedy on debut (Benoit Photo)
