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 Pat Valenzuela and Chester's Choice just edge out Julie Krone and Woke Up Dreamin at the wire. |
Dateline: 09/07/2003
Patrick Valenzuela won Del Mar's "Battle of the Sexes" today as
he urged Chester's Choice to the front in the final, desperate strides
for a dramatic nose victory over Julie Krone and Woke Up Dreamin. This was
only the third Thoroughbred match race in Del Mar history. The two previous
Thoroughbred match races at Del Mar were won by Seabiscuit (August 12, 1937)
and Soviet Problem (August 21,1994).
The two three-year-olds and their riders hooked up from the
start of the mile and one-sixteenth race and dueled head-to-head to the top
of the stretch where Krone and Woke Up Dreamin took command, seemingly on
the way to victory. However, a determined Valenzuela then guided Chester's Choice to the
outside and received a final burst of energy to wear down a tiring Woke Up
Dreamin in the last yards for the exciting photo finish triumph.
With early fractional times exceptionally fast for the distance - :22.1
for the opening quarter, :44.53 for the half-mile and 1:09.81 for the six
furlongs - the pace slowed as both horses shortened stride through the
stretch from their pitched battle. Time for the mile was 1:38.48 en route
to a final clocking of 1:46.26 for the distance.
Chester's Choice, owned by Robert Rupert and trained by Summer Mayberry,
paid $3.60 as the 4-5 second choice to 1-2 favored Woke Up Dreamin, owned by
Mike Pegram and conditioned by Bob Baffert. The winner, a son of Afternoon
Deelites, earned $35,000 from the purse of $50,000 with his second win in 11
career starts.
The victory was Patrick Valenzuela's 48th at the meeting, putting him two
winners ahead of Julie Krone in the riding title chase.
Patrick Valenzuela said, "My main concern was getting my horse
to finish. Summer (trainer Summer Mayberry) did a marvelous job getting him
ready to do this. He'd been going long and today he had to run six furlongs in
1:09 and then keep right on going. I thought he would have more stamina today.
He was game, too. I had to work real hard that last part to get there, but I
was fit enough for it, too. Julie (Krone) has been the golden girl here this
summer. She won on Candy Ride (Pacific Classic) and she's shown everyone she's
a tremendous rider. The crowd was behind her. At the end, I knew I'd won and
pulling up I told her: 'Congratulations on a great race.'
Julie Krone said, "At the sixteenth pole I could hear Pat
(Patrick Valenzuela) grunting and pushing. I knew it was going to be close.
The crowd was roaring. I was asking my horse for all he had left and he was
trying. He was so leg weary, but he was trying. It sure was exciting for the
fans." She continued, "Bob (trainer Bob Baffert) said to say if I got beat that it was the
training that did it. So I'm going to blame Bob." About during the race, "No, there was no talking out
there. We both had our game faces on. Turning for home I threw a cross on him
and thought I might get there. But they got us. That was some race."
From a Del Mar press release.
Photo ©2003 Cindy Pierson Dulay licensed to About.
