Grand Slam Smile © Benoit Photo
Stout favorite Grand Slam Smile ran her race Sunday in the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar and came away a winner for the 14th time overall, as well as the second straight time in the seven-furlong stakes for Cal-bred fillies and mares.
The 5-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger, bred by her owners – Mr.-Mrs. Larry D. Williams of Boise, Idaho – ran the distance in 1:22.71 and came home five and a quarter lengths to the good in a field of six. She was handled by Juan Hernandez, a seven-time leading jockey at Del Mar who currently is the top rider at the session with six wins after three days of the sport.
The chestnut mare returned $4.20 to her backers in the crowd as the 11-10 favorite. Further, she pushed her lifetime bankroll to $1,114,120 with the $57,000 winner’s check.
Finishing second in the dash was the Alberta invader Big Hug, owned by Hedge or Neyka. She had a half length on the show horse, Reddam Racing’s She’s No Quant.
This was Grand Slam Smile’s 25 start and besides the 14 firsts she also has six seconds and three thirds. She’s won on the turf seven times, the dirt six times and a synthetic surface once.
Racing will now take a breather at Del Mar and wait to return on Friday, November 13. First post will be the usual 12:30 p.m.
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Grand Slam Smile, winner) – “No, no special instructions to me. Sean (trainer McCarthy) just told me to ‘go do your thing.’ She came away from there just a bit slow, so I had to ask her some to get position. But once we got up front, she was on the muscle all the way. She was strong. She’s some filly.”
SEAN MCCARTHY (Grand Slam Smile, winner) – “The one hole was a concern and Juan (Hernandez) said ‘I’m going to get aggressive there.’ We got lucky with the scratch of John’s (Sadler) horse next to us. John’s horse has speed and it could have been a real speed duel. She broke a little slower today. She’s getting older and getting a little wiser about those things and when she cleared the gap she was running on up in there. Once she took a hold of the bridle I was feeling pretty good.”
FRACTIONS: :22.32 :44.73 1:09.58 1:22.71
The stakes win was the first of the meet both for rider Hernandez and trainer McCarthy.
The score in the Betty Grable was rider Hernandez’s 80th at Del Mar. It was also his second in the Betty Grable (Fun to Dream, 2022).
The score in the Betty Grable was the third at Del Mar for trainer McCarthy, all with Grand Slam Smile. They won the Betty Grable last year.
The winning owners (and breeders) are Mr.-Mrs. Larry D. Williams of Boise, Idaho.