Splendora © Benoit Photo

By Talla Racing’s Splendora sat a good trip in midpack down the backside in Thursday’s feature at Del Mar, a six-furlong allowance spin for fillies and mares.

Then at the head of the lane she split horses and simply drew off to a three and a half length victory with rider Juan Hernandez not needing to give her any encouragement.

The 4-year-old daughter of Audible was 1/2 at the mutuels and returned $3 even to her backers on a sunny and mild afternoon alongside the Pacific. She covered the distance in 1:09.73.

Splendora is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. So was the runner up in the sprint, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum’s Ooty, who was making her U.S. bow in the race. Running third, a half length farther back, was Bisharat or Khoury’s Safa.

Splendora earned a first prize of $50,400 from the $88,518 purse. She’s now banked $280,800 from three wins and four seconds in eight starts. She also made herself a strong candidate for the six and one-half furlong Rancho Bernardo Handicap on August 24 at Del Mar. That Grade III carries a $100,000 purse.

Racing resumes at Del Mar Friday with a first post time of 4 p.m.