Mo See Cal Returns Smartly in Betty Grable at Del Mar

DEL MAR, CA – Rockingham Ranch’s Mo See Cal, a 5-year-old mare who was making her first start in nearly a year, fired a good shot under Flavien Prat and scored handily by 3 3/4 lengths in the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes Sunday at Del Mar, besting seven other California-bred fillies and mares in the 7-furlong test.

Trainer Peter Miller brought the gray along slowly after a minor surgery and had her ready to roll today. Her last start was on November 17, 2019, in this same race where she finished third.

For Prat, it was his fourth straight victory in this stakes. For Miller, it was his first, but the seven-time Del Mar training champion was scoring his third stakes win of the weekend at the seaside track, but the first he got to see in person. The 54-year-old conditioner had been in Kentucky saddling Breeders’ Cup horses the previous two days. His other local stakes victories came in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies (September Secret) on Friday and the Golden State Juvenile (Good With People) yesterday.

It was Miller’s fourth victory of the meet on its fifth day of racing and put him in a three-way tie for first for the current trainer’s crown with Doug O’Neill and Bob Baffert.

Mo See Cal, a daughter of Uncle Mo, scored the sixth win of her career in her 19th start. Her $57,000 prize for the victory pushed her earnings to $342,664. She ran the sprint distance in 1:25.01

Second in the dash was Benjamin and Sally Warren’s Warren’s Showtime and third was Nick Alexander’s Just Grazed Me, the race favorite.

Mo See Cal paid $11.80, $5.60 and $3.80 across the board. Warren’s Showtime returned $3.60 and $2.40, while Just Grazed Me paid $2.40.

Racing at Del Mar will return next Friday with a nine race card and a first post of 12:30 p.m.

FLAVIEN PRAT (Mo See Cal, winner) – “We were just cruising on the backside and when we came up to the turn I decided to see what she could do. She responded well. I don’t know if the blinkers (Mo See Cal added them today) made a difference, but if they did it was a good one.” 

PETER MILLER (Mo See Cal, winner) – “Great weekend. Good run at the Breeders’ Cup and then to win all three stakes here. What could be better than that? I’m really just proud of the mare. They did a great job bringing her back after surgery (bone chips in knees) and a great ride by Flavien (Prat).  I told him there were two that were going to go and I didn’t want him to get involved with them. The pace was slow and he was kind of right on them, but he knows when to go. He knew it was time to go and he went. We put blinkers on (Mo See Cal) because she’d won with them before and I’m kind of a tinkerer. She’d also won without them.” 

FRACTIONS:  :23.34  :47.22  1:12.31  1:25.01

The stakes win was the first of the meet for rider Prat, but his fourth consecutive one in the Betty Grable. He now has 60 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The stakes win was the third of the meet for trainer Miller, but his first in the Betty Grable. He now has 38 stakes wins at Del Mar.

The winning owner is Rockingham Ranch, the nom du course for Gary Hartunian of Los Angeles