Segesta caps Turf Festival double for dam in Matriarch

One day after half-brother Salamis scored a new career high in the Hollywood Derby (G1), fellow Juddmonte homebred Segesta likewise earned her first Grade 1 trophy in Sunday’s $302,000 Matriarch (G1). You might say that made their dam, Antonoe, the matriarch of the Turf Festival at Del Mar.  

Their trainer, Chad Brown, went a perfect 3-for-3 with his shippers for the weekend festival. In addition to the half-sibling duo, his two-year-old filly Just Aloof captured Saturday’s Jimmy Durante (G3).

Matriarch (G1)

Segesta’s victory gave Brown his seventh Matriarch, just one shy of the all-time stakes record established by his mentor, the late Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. His eight winners came at the race’s original home of Hollywood Park. 

Five of Frankel’s winners were owned by Juddmonte – Wandesta (1996), Ryafan (1997), Heat Haze (2003), Intercontinental (2004), and Price Tag (2006). Juddmonte’s 2009 Matriarch winner, Ventura, ran for Frankel’s longtime assistant, the late Humberto Ascanio. Since the race’s transfer to Del Mar, Juddmonte has supplied two of Brown’s tally, with Viadera (2020) preceding Segesta.

Segesta owes something to Frankel’s legacy herself. Her sire is his Hall of Famer Ghostzapper, and Antonoe is by another Juddmonte/Frankel performer, First Defence (who was upholding the family tradition bequeathed by his dam, Honest Lady, and granddam Toussaud).

Twice close to Grade 1 glory, when runner-up in the 2024 Belmont Oaks (G1) and a neck second in the Oct. 4 First Lady (G1) at Keeneland, Segesta ranked as the 1.70-1 favorite to break through here. The dark bay obliged in straightforward stalk-and-pounce style.

The pace figured to be genuine, with 2.90-1 second choice Ag Bullet as well as In Our Time in the field. As it turned out, neither flashed the kind of serious speed they're capable of. 

In Our Time went forward, tracked by Ag Bullet, through splits of :23.65, :48.06, and 1:12.49. Segesta, who was perched in fourth early, began to advance by that point.

Rolling into gear for jockey Flavien Prat, Segesta circled the leaders on the far turn and opened up into the stretch. The Kentucky-bred widened her margin to 2 1/4 lengths while clocking the firm-turf mile in 1:35.60.

The 29-1 In Our Time held second by three-quarters of a length from Ag Bullet. Breath Away did well to close from last to round out the superfecta. Next came Heredia, Medoro, Ozara, Vibez, and Spicybug. Antifona was scratched.

Segesta, who paid $5.40, has compiled a record of 11-4-4-0, $1,190,275. The winner of last year’s Wonder Again (G2) at Aqueduct and the July 19 Matchmaker (G3) at Monmouth, she missed by only a half-length in the Aug. 30 Ladies Turf (G3) at Kentucky Downs.

Antonoe was a Grade 1 winner herself for Brown, achieving that status in the 2017 Just a Game (G1). Initially a Group 3-winning juvenile in France for Pascal Bary, she arguably might not have reached the limit of her potential on the racecourse. There’s no doubt that she’s transmitting her talent to her offspring.

Supporting stakes

Favorites endured mixed fortunes in the other stakes on the closing day of the Bing Crosby season. 

The Bob Baffert-trained Hope Road defended her title in the $101,500 Bayakoa (G3) as a 2-5 favorite should. Stretching back out off a third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), the Cicero Farms homebred forced the pace before driving 6 1/2 lengths clear with Juan Hernandez. Early leader Simply Joking was easily the best of the rest. 

Hope Road, whose only anxious moments came when she delayed the start, covered the mile in 1:36.38 on the fast main track. The daughter of Quality Road and Marley’s Freedom became a millionaire, earning $1,016,620 from her 14-6-4-2 line. 

Hope Road’s first stakes win came in last year’s Torrey Pines (G3) at this track and trip, and this summer, she emulated her dam by taking the Ballerina (G1) at Saratoga. Most noteworthy among her stakes placings is a second in the Derby City Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Earlier in the $101,000 Cecil B. DeMille (G3) for turf juveniles, 1-2 favorite Hey Nay Nay was a troubled third to the 5.50-1 Unrivaled Time. 

Hey Nay Nay was held up off the pace for the first time by new rider Prat. As he made his move into the stretch, he appeared to compromise his own chances by trying to lug in. But it got messier when Unrivaled Time also came out, and Hey Nay Nay ended up tapping on the brakes late. That allowed Iriseach to pass him for second.

The stewards conducted an inquiry and, by a majority decision, ruled that no change was necessary because both contributed to the incident. Unrivaled Time, who crossed the wire three-quarters of a length ahead of Iriseach, kept the trophy. 

Trained by Leonard Powell and ridden by Diego Herrera, the Not This Time colt finished the grassy mile in 1:36.42 and returned $13. Unrivaled Time, a sharp maiden winner in his prior start at Santa Anita, sports a mark of 3-2-0-0, $97,600, for Innergy Racing Corp. and breeder Alfred Pais.

Two-time defending champion Unconquerable Keen was let go at 9.80-1 in the $102,500 Stormy Liberal S., but the Phil D’Amato veteran knifed through a gap late to score the three-peat. 

Unraced since his third in the TwinSpires Turf Sprint (G2) on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill, the six-year-old gelding edged Zio Jo, Sorrento Sky, Book Mark, and Yellow Card in a blanket finish. A length covered the top five, and sixth-placer No Nay Hudson was just another half-length back in the cavalry charge.

The meet’s leading rider, Umberto Rispoli, steered Unconquerable Keen through five furlongs in :56.10. The CYBT, Omar Aldabbagh, and Michael Nentwig runner improved his record to 24-8-2-6, $449,129. The Irish import is by Clodovil, who is a maternal relative of Sunday’s Japan Cup (G1) star, Calandagan.