Riboletta notched her fourth straight win in the Clement L. Hirsch Handicap, and Give Praise wins the Sorrento Stakes for two-year-old fillies

In one of the grittiest performances of her career, Riboletta (Brz) has perhaps stamped herself as the premier racemare in the country with her 1 1/2-length victory in Del Mar's inaugural running of the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (G2) on August 12. Burdened with high weight of 125 pounds and overcoming a slipped saddle, the five-year-old mare forged to the front midway through the turn for home in the 1 1/16-mile race and widened her lead to the winning margin by midstretch.

Clement L. Hirsch H. (G2)
Del Mar, August 12, $300,000, 11/16 miles, fast, 1:42.06
1-RIBOLETTA (Brz), m. 5, Roi Normand-=Joy Valley (Brz), by =Ghadeer (Fr).
2-Bordelaise (Arg), m. 5, =Espacial (Arg)-=Maconnaisse (Arg), by *Keats.
3-Gourmet Girl, m. 5, Cee's Tizzy-Rhondaling (GB), by =Welsh Pageant (Fr).

On her way to victory for owners Aaron and Marie Jones and trainer Eduardo Inda, she put away the pace-setting Gourmet Girl and held off the challenge of first Excellent Meeting and then the second-place finisher, Bordelaise (Arg). Gourmet Girl held on for third.

Riboletta, the 2-to-5 favorite who is a daughter of Roi Normand out of Joy Valley, by Ghadeer, achieved the victory under jockey Chris McCarron. The fourth straight victory for Riboletta was also a special moment for Inda, who had personal reasons for wanting to win this particular race. Hirsch is the man who brought Inda to the United States from Chile in 1961 to accompany two Chilean-breds Hirsch had bought. Formerly known as the Chula Vista Handicap, the race was renamed this year in memory of Hirsch, who was an influential Southern California horseman for the better part of half a century.

"It was nice, very nice to win," Inda said, acknowledging that he had shed a few tears as Riboletta passed under the wire. Did he have any concerns when the mare did not make the lead as early in the race as she usually does? "No, not really," he said. "When Chris made the move on the backstretch, it looked very good."

On the backstretch, Riboletta, who had been comfortably in fourth going into the first turn, moved effortlessly into second, where she put pressure on leader Gourmet Girl. Riboletta battled with the pacesetter from the outside and took the lead heading toward the quarter pole.

Excellent Meeting, a $1.4-million earner who now has lost six straight races, made a bold five-wide move on the turn and appeared to have dead aim on Riboletta. The General Meeting filly flattened out dramatically in the stretch, however, and could finish no better than fifth in the six-horse field. Owner Aaron Jones was ecstatic over the victory of the mare he moved-with all of his other horses-to Inda from the Bob Baffert barn in January.

"I don't know how much you could load on her and she'd still win," Jones said. "The saddle slipped today, which was unfortunate, but she handled it anyway. She's just one tough, tough mare. She's a different horse since she came to Eduardo. He understands her and she understands him."

McCarron gave the mare the kind of unhurried, confident ride befitting a Racing Hall of Fame jockey, even with the slipped saddle.

"My saddle slipped on me twice during the running," McCarron said. "I was really worried about that. It slipped forward, then it slipped back. Then as I was pulling up, it slipped again. I almost went flying over her head." About the race itself, McCarron said, "She was trying to take me to the lead right from the get-go. She's aggressive like that. But she's very talented. She's a pleasure."

Give Praise in Sorrento

Give Praise, an 8.10-to-1 longshot, tracked a swift early pace, caught 9-to-10 favorite Fort Lauderdale in midstretch, and exploded in the final furlong to run off with a 3 1/2-length victory in the $150,000-guaranteed Sorrento Stakes (G2) on August 13.

Sorrento S. (G2)
Del Mar, August 13, $150,000, 61/2 furlongs, fast, 1:17.88
1-GIVE PRAISE, f. 2, Pioneering-Hail Kris, by Kris S.
2-Sea Reel, f. 2, Sea Hero-Reel Special Belle, by Reel On Reel.
3-Fort Lauderdale, f. 2, Montbrook-Ten Cents a Turn, by Cozzene.

The two-year-old Ohio-bred filly, who sold for $3,500 as a weanling and did not make the $37,000 reserve price set on her as a two-year-old, finished the 6 1/2 Furlongs in 1:17.88 under strong handling by the world's winningest jockey, Laffit Pincay Jr. The pace-setters, Lazer Storm and Fort Lauderdale, sizzled through the first quarter in :21.80 and the half in :44.38, with Give Praise content to sit in fourth.

Pincay angled the winner out as they headed into the straightaway and began making up ground on Fort Lauderdale as Lazer Storm gave way to finish sixth of seven.

When Give Praise came to Fort Lauderdale, Pincay, who won his second stakes race of the meeting and his 91st overall at Del Mar, went to the whip strongly, moved her quickly past, and opened a daylight lead that kept expanding as they approached the wire.

Coming with a rush at the end was Sea Reel, the 2.60-to-1 second choice ridden by leading jockey Victor Espinoza, who powered her way to second place, three lengths ahead of Fort Lauderdale.

Pincay had matters well in hand. "I just sat with her," he said. "I knew they were going quick up there, and I didn't want to rush her. When we got into the stretch, I just wanted to find a spot to let her run. I could tell she could win it. She was full of run. When I went past the wire, she was still strong. She'll like to run on even farther."

Pincay got the ride when Corey Nakatani opted for Fort Lauderdale. Winning trainer James Chapman, a part owner with Ron Parker and Stuart Tsujimoto, said: "Corey had the call on her in the beginning, and he was supposed to ride her here, and Fort Lauderdale went in. Corey worked her the other day and he couldn't pull her up."

Chapman, who bought the filly from his father after she failed to sell as a two-year-old, seconded Pincay's observation that "the more distance, the better she'll get." Did he give Pincay any instructions? "You don't tell Laffit anything," Chapman said with a smile. "He just looks at you with those steely eyes. I feel goofy talking to him."

Finish Lines-Trainer D. Wayne Lukas sprang quite a surprise on a good field of two-year-old maidens in the sixth race on August 12, when Padua Stables' High Cascade blazed his way to an impressive 5 1/2-length victory, completing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.16. The winner, a Woodman half brother to Rubiano who flipped in the gate and was scratched from an August 5 maiden race, paid $31. ... Trainer A. C. Avila is hoping that Alvo Certo (Brz), a Brazilian-bred with a penchant for long-distance running on the grass, will take him back to the winner's circle in the Del Mar Handicap (G2) at 1 3/8 miles on Labor Day, September 4. The seven-year-old son of Tsunami Slew went right to the lead out of the gate in the $78,850 Escondido Handicap on August 9, set all the fractions, and finished a strong winner. ... In another overnight stakes, the $76,400 Honey Fox Handicap, Neil Drysdale-trained Keemoon (Fr) broke free with a quarter-mile to go and ran down Key Academy (GB) to win by a neck. The four-year-old bay daughter of Goldneyev got a patient and timely ride from Kent Desormeaux. ... After spending two years battling a flurry of minor injuries and a series of stops and starts in training, four-year-old Unlimited Value appears to be on the brink of something big following his fourth straight career victory in an allowance race on August 9. He finally made his debut this year for owners Harris Farms and Ray Johnson and trainer Carla Gaines. The son of Present Value may start next in the Del Mar Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2) at one mile on September 3.