Hope Road defended her crown with authority in the Grade III $100,000 Bayakoa Stakes on Sunday (30th November), producing a strong Bayakoa Stakes result that reflected both her consistency and maturity. Sitting second early under Juan Hernandez, about a length behind Simply Joking and Flavien Prat, last year’s winner travelled comfortably throughout before switching leads turning for home and pulling away to win by a widening six and a half lengths under a hand ride.
“She is really good out of the gate. She broke running, when I asked her to go, she listened. She relaxed very good. Bob was working on her to relax. He did a really good job, and you know, all the credit goes to the filly, because she relaxed and was tracking the horse in front of me just waiting for me to shake the reins. We had a great trip,” said Hernandez.
Simply Joking and Hope Road had opened a three-length gap on the rest of the field up the backstretch, but the runner-up could not match the winner’s acceleration past the eighth pole. She maintained second by two and three-quarter lengths over Mahina, who had raced second to last before angling out turning for home and holding off a late charge from Jane Austin to take third by a nose under Umberto Rispoli.
Conditioned by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Hope Road entered the Bayakoa following a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on November 1 at Del Mar. The homebred daughter of Quality Road, owned by Cicero Farms LLC, now carries a record of 14-6-4-2 and has increased her career earnings to $1,016,620.
Race fractions were 23.15, 47.32, 1:11.46, and 1:23.61, with a final time of 1:36.38.
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Hope Road, Winner) – “She is really good out of the gate. She broke running, when I asked her to go, she listened. She relaxed very good. Bob was working on her to relax. He did a really good job, and you know, all the credit goes to the filly, because she relaxed and was tracking the horse in front of me just waiting for me to shake the reins. We had a great trip.”
JIMMY BARNES (Hope Road, Winner) – “She had already gone two turns before and she handled the two turns again. I think it depends on the level of the competition. Maybe it’s Del Mar she likes. She ran just how we expected her to run.”
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