NEWS
Desert Code much the best in Daytona
Posted: Sunday, February 15, 2009 4:47 PM
DESERT CODE
Benoit & Associates photo
by Steve Bailey
Tarabilla Farms’ Desert Code has shown an affinity for the downhill turf course at Santa Anita Park and he proved it again on Sunday with a 2 1/2-length victory in the $100,000 Daytona Handicap (G3).
The five-year-old E Dubai horse won for the fifth time in seven starts on the Arcadia, California, track’s unique 6 1/2-furlong hillside course and redeemed himself after a head-scratching 11th-place finish in last year’s Daytona, which was ungraded.
Following his poor showing in last year’s Daytona, Desert Code bounced back to win two of six starts, including an upset victory over Diabolical at odds of 36.50-to-1 in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on the same course for trainer David Hofmans on October 25 in his previous start.
Desert Code took command early, breaking sharply from the rail and quickly charging to the front. Taking the field through modest fractions of :22.29 for the quarter-mile and :44.38 through a half-mile, Desert Code never was challenged under jockey Aaron Gryder. He built a 2 ½-length lead in early stretch and maintained that margin to the wire, covering 6 ½ furlongs in 1:12.58 on firm turf.
“After the first quarter mile, I was saying ‘This is sweet.’ ” Gryder said. “When he left he gate as well as he did, I just decided to drop his head and let him get away from them a little bit.”
Euroglide held sway in the stretch to take second, three-quarters of a length in front of Guns On the Table. Grade 3 winner Z Humor flattened out in the lane and finished last of eight in his turf debut.
“I didn’t expect him to be in front; I expected him to be lying second or third, because I thought there was some speed in there,” Hofmans said. “The fractions were pretty slow for coming down the hill, but that’s why he’s so versatile.
“It looked like they all broke well, but everybody jumped back, so he kicked on. They went :44 today; in the Breeders’ Cup, they went [:41.80.] That’s a big difference. … I thought maybe he would need this race, but I was wrong.”
Overall, Desert Code has won seven of 20 starts with four runner-up finishes in four seasons and has earned $1,088,939. He is out of the stakes-winning Lost Code mare Chatta Code.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times
