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Richard's Kid reigns as two-time Pacific Classic winner
By that point, Crowded House had angled out and was moving in tandem with 5-2 favorite The Usual Q. T. (Unusual Heat), and they bore down on Temple City entering the stretch. Meanwhile, Richard's Kid, who gradually improved his position on the far turn, was launching his bid wider out. The contenders briefly battled in a line abreast. The Usual Q. T. held the lead by a head at the eighth-pole, until Crowded House and Richard's Kid edged away. Crowded House struck the front first, threatening to pull a 12-1 upset, but Richard's Kid appeared to be going the better of the two inside the final furlong. Finding his best stride late, Richard's Kid mastered Crowded House, and completed the 1 1/4-mile Polytrack test in 2:03 1/5, to enter the annals of Del Mar history. "I had no instructions," Smith said with a laugh, alluding to the fact that Baffert was at Saratoga on Saturday. "The first three jumps out of the gate I said, 'Oh, ho, here we go. Just like last year.' He gathered himself and he was just going so easy. He was moving just like you'd want. "I could tell they were going a little too slow, so I had him up there a little closer than I normally would. But it was easily done. Then it was just like deja vu all over again. Pretty much just like that. He came running and he galloped out strong, too. He's just a nice horse. "You know, this is only the second time I've ever been on him. Last year (in the Pacific Classic) and this. I just want to ride him once a year." "There had been a lot of talk about speed holding today," assistant trainer Jim Barnes said, "but Mike let him drop back and make his big run. He ran well on this racetrack. He's two for two in the Pacific Classic. You can't get any better than that. I just told Mike, 'You remember your horse, you know how he runs.' Mike just said we're just going to break, let him drop back and let him run his race. And that's what he did. He really fired off a slow pace and that's hard to do." Richard's Kid paid $11.60, $5.60 and $3.80 to his loyalists, while Crowded House yielded $10.60 and $6.40 and ended the $72.10 exacta ($1). "He's a class horse," jockey Corey Nakatani said of Crowded House, "and he was just unfortunate today in that Bob's horse (Richard's Kid) was just ready to roll and did. I had a great trip, saved ground and ran just the way I wanted. When we went into that first turn, I wouldn't have traded places with anyone. He was going so good. And he fired and ran well. He just had to settle for second today." "For a moment or two there, I thought it was going to be a dream," said Ben Cecil, Crowded House's trainer. "I thought we were going to get it. But then reality stepped back in. But he ran wonderfully well and we're very pleased. I think he's a very good horse. We might think about something like the Goodwood ([G1] on October 2) next, though I'm not sure about the Breeders' Cup. He's not eligible and it costs a lot of money. We're looking at going back to Dubai with him." Another half-length adrift came a flying Dakota Phone (Zavata), who got up from last for third. The 8-1 shot returned $4.80 to show and capped the $1 trifecta totaling $524.60. The 10-1 Battle of Hastings (GB) (Royal Applause [GB]) crossed the wire another length back in fourth, resulting in a $4,169.10 superfecta (6-8-3-1) ($1). The Usual Q. T. flattened out in the drive and wound up fifth, followed by Temple City, Isle of Giant's, Hold Me Back (Giant's Causeway), Unusual Suspect (Unusual Heat) and Awesome Gem (Awesome Again), who was racing just behind the leaders in deep stretch when he was steadied and dropped back. Awesome Gem, the runner-up in the 2007 Pacific Classic, was contesting this race for the fourth straight year. The connections of beaten favorite The Usual Q. T. offered contrasting reactions. "He made a good move and he tried hard," jockey Victor Espinoza said. "But he's a different horse on this track. Put him on the turf and he's a runner." "I wish he hadn't moved so soon," trainer Jim Cassidy said. "You can't move too early; it's not the grass."
The Maryland-bred Richard's Kid is out of Tough Broad (Broad Brush), who during her career captured six stakes and placed in seven others, including the 1996 Noble Damsel H. (G3). He is the first stakes winner for his dam, who is a full sister to 1997 Kent S. third Broad Choice. Other stakes scorers in the family include 1971 Derby Trial victor Vegas Vic (T. V. Lark), who placed in such events as the Washington Park H. (G3), Oak Tree Invitational, Santa Anita Derby; Unky and Ally (Heff), queen of the 1997 Sorority S. (G3); and multiple Calder stakes winner Kid Colin (Baldski).
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