Chicago Style Fashionably Fast in G2 Hollywood Turf Cup

DEL MAR, CA – Glen Hill Farm’s homebred Chicago Style fought through difficulties, then survived a stretch run inquiry, before being officially crowned the king in Friday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes at Del Mar.

Breaking from the far outside post 8 under Drayden Van Dyke as the 9/5 favorite, Chicago Style was content to sit at the rear of the field early while Ashleyluvssugar posted moderate opening fractions of :24.51, :50.65, 1:16.25, and 1:41.79 for the opening mile. The runners bunched up as they entered the far turn, which allowed Chicago Style to split out five-wide for the stretch run. With less than 2 furlongs remaining, controversy arose as Chicago Style angled in and Marckie’s Water drifted out, causing Ya Gotta Wanna to pull up sharply. Under a full head of steam, the Tom Proctor trainee continued running strongly through to the wire, crossing with a neck advantage over Bigger Picture in a final time of 2:28.53 for the 12-furlong marathon over the firm turf course.

Beach View necked out third over Marckie’s Water, while Ashleyluvssugar faded in the stretch to neck out fifth over Ya Gotta Wanna. Just 3/4 of a length behind, Can’thelpbelieving completed the order of finish. Krewe Chief was scratched.

Following the race’s conclusion, Ya Gotta Wanna’s trainer Phil D’Amato claimed foul against Chicago Style for interference past midstretch. However, upon video review, the stewards ruled unanimously that the winner, Marckie’s Water, and Ashleyluvssugar all contributed equally to the incident, resulting in no changes to the original order of finish.

Chicago Style’s win was his first since an allowance score at Del Mar on August 11, 2017, and improved his overall record to 11-6-1-1. The 5-year-old gelded son of Kitten’s Joy, who didn’t even debut until January of his 4-year-old year, has now earned $296,328 in his career.

Chicago Style returned $5.80 to win, $3 to place, and $2.40 to show. Bigger Picture brought back $3.40 to place and $3 to show, while Beach View paid $4.40 to show.