Ag Bullet, Segesta top Matriarch; Hope Road faces eight in Bayakoa

The $300,000 Matriarch (G1) tops four stakes at Del Mar Sunday, and the one-mile turf affair for fillies and mares features a fascinating match-up between Ag Bullet and Segesta.

Runner-up in the recent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) and third in last year’s Matriarch, Grade 1 winner Ag Bullet will stretch back to a mile in the 10-horse field. Grade 2 winner Segesta, a neck second in the First Lady (G1) at Keeneland, is a top contender for Chad Brown, who has won the last four editions and six of the last seven runnings of the Matriarch.

Other runners include Grade 3 heroine Medoro, third in the Goldikova (G3) and second in the John C. Mabee (G2) in her last two outings; Dance Smartly (G2) winner Breath Away; Ballston Spa (G2) winner Ozara; and Yellow Ribbon (G2) winner Heredia.

One race later on the program, Ballerina (G1) winner Hope Road heads nine fillies and mares in the $100,000 Bayakoa (G3) at a mile on the main track. Third after setting the pace in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), Hope Road will make a title defense and her first start at two turns since winning last year’s Bayakoa. Juan Hernandez rides for Bob Baffert.

Multiple stakes winner Simply Joking will make her second start off the layoff for Michael McCarthy, and Warming will switch turf to dirt for Graham Motion after winning the Autumn Miss (G3) at Santa Anita.

Two-year-old turf runners will square off in the $100,000 Cecil B. DeMille (G3) over a mile, and Del Mar Juvenile Turf (G3) winner Hey Nay Nay has been pegged as the 7-5 morning line favorite among seven contestants. The dark bay colt seeks to rebound from an unplaced finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), and Flavien Prat rides for John Sadler.

Unraced since a rallying third in the Turf Sprint (G2) on the Kentucky Derby Day undercard, Unconquerable Keen will seek a third consecutive victory in the $100,000 Stormy Liberal at five furlongs on turf. Phil D’Amato trains and Umberto Rispoli will pilot the six-year-old gelding, and his main rivals include Big City Lights, Sorrento Sky, and Yellow Card.