Daddy Is a Legend Now After Winning G3 Jimmy Durante

DEL MAR, CA – Jim and Susan Hill’s Daddy Is a Legend is becoming one on the juvenile turf circuit after winning Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes.

Off slow from post 2 under Joe Bravo, Daddy Is a Legend trailed near the rear while Just a Smidge and recent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf competitor Fatale Bere took turns setting early fractions of :23.80, :48.04, and 1:12.02. Hitting the front stretch five-wide in seventh but only 2 1/2 lengths off of the front, Daddy Is a Legend made a bid up the middle and broke through to hit the wire first by a length in a final time of 1:36.06 for the mile-long turf event.

 “She’s a big filly,” Bravo said. “She’s a special one, too. I was following Chad Brown’s horse (Data Dependent) around there, and when she went, I went right behind her. When we hit the stretch, I tipped her out, and it was bye-bye. It was her race from there. She’s special.”

Data Dependent wasn’t strong enough to hold off the winner in deep stretch, but she was the best of the rest. Raucous was 3/4 of a length back in third, with Lexington Grace just edging out Ever So True and Casino Red for fourth. Multiplayer was seventh, while Fatale Bere faded to eighth. Sappho, Deep Breath, Thewayiam, and Just a Smidge completed the order of finish. Onefastbroad was scratched.

Trained by George Weaver, the 2-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy gave both Weaver and Bravo their first-ever stakes wins at Del Mar. The win improves her record to 4-2-1-0 with earnings of $107,910.

“She gave us a couple of scares, but we’ll take it,” said Austin Trites, assistant to Weaver. “For a split second, around the turn, I was very worried. But when he tipped her out and she got in the clear, she came home very well.”

Daddy Is a Legend returned $7.40 to win, $4.60 to place, and $3.20 to show. Data Dependent brought back $6.20 to place and $4.20 to show, while Raucous paid $5 to show.

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