Motorious Delivers At 4-5 In GII, $200,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes Going About 6 ½ Furlongs On The Hillside Turf Course

MOTORIOUS DELIVERS AT 4-5 IN GII $200,000, JOE HERNANDEZ STAKES GOING ABOUT 6 ½ FURLONGS ON THE HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Dec. 28, 2024)— Motorious, exiting a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, used a late surge under jockey Antonio Fresu to narrowly prevail in Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes going about 6 ½ furlongs on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course Saturday.

Sent off the 4-5 favorite, Motorious settled comfortably in mid-pack as 68-1 longshot Code Duello sprinted down the hill and set fractions of 21.81 and 43.78 seconds for the opening half mile. Racing directly to the inside of Motorious throughout was Sumter, a 12-1 long shot ridden by Mike Smith.

After Code Duello reached the sixteenth pole in 1:06.07, he began to fade and Sumter and Motorious found themselves in a duel to the wire. Sumter appeared to have a slight advantage in the late going, but Motorious then dug in gamely and got past that rival to win by a head.

“He’s proved to be a very good horse sprinting and going down the hill,” said Fresu, who also rode Motorious in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. “Today, I tried to give him a really good warm up. He was kind of slow in the beginning and it was kind of hard to get into his rhythm. When I let him loose down the lane he just kept grinding and I thought he finished best.”

Irideo (16-1), ridden by Hector Berrios, finished another 1 ½ lengths back in third. Code Duello held on to complete the superfecta, which returned $125.60 for 10 cents.

Motorious, trained by Phil D’Amato, won in a final time of 1:11.86.

“I was very nervous,” D’Amato said. “Mike Smith slipped up on the inside and got the jump on us. It was a dog fight from there on out. Luckily, we prevailed.”

Motorious is owned by Anthony Fanticola. Bred in England, where he began his career, the 6-year-old gelding by Muhaarar improved to 21: 8-5-2 with $807,604 in earnings.

This was his fourth career stakes win. Prior to being beaten just a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar Nov. 2, Motorious won the GIII Green Flash for the second year in a row at Del Mar Aug. 31. He also won last year’s GIII San Simeon on the hillside turf course.

D’Amato said Motorious would now get a break and would likely return for a 7-year-old campaign in April or May.

Motorious paid $3.80, $3.00 and $2.40. Sumter, trained by Richard Mandella, returned $8.40 and $6.60. Irideo, ridden by Hector Berrios for trainer Marcelo Polanco, paid $6.20.