DEL MAR, CA – Seismic Beauty delivered a breakthrough performance on Saturday at Del Mar, going straight to the front and never looking back to win the $400,500 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) by a length and a half.
Owned by MyRacehorse and Peter Leidel, the 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo broke sharply under Juan Hernandez and saved ground throughout the mile and a sixteenth on the main track. She stopped the clock in 1:42.33 to earn her second consecutive stakes victory and first at the Grade 1 level. The win added $240,000 to her bankroll, boosting her career earnings to $476,840.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert captured the Hirsch for the third straight year and fourth time overall.
“That wasn’t an easy lead, they were rolling. She’s a big filly. She looks like she’s going easy but they were going fast. She’s just getting better and better. She’s still maturing but I think she’ll improve off of that.”
The Hirsch is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, giving Seismic Beauty an automatic berth into the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff on November 1 at Del Mar. Her $60,000 entry fee for the race is now waived.
Hernandez credited the filly’s sharp break and natural speed for the decisive win.
“I think she won the race out of the gate today. She broke really, really sharp. She loves to be on the lead. She was really comfortable. You know, she was just galloping; she was in a really good rhythm, that’s what Bob (Baffert) told me to do. You know, that’s what she did on her own. I was just waiting for the quarter pole to make her run. Once we hit it, I asked her, she picked it up, she switched leads, and that was it. You know, this filly she is getting better every race.”
Kopion finished second after a wide trip early, sitting last entering the far turn before unleashing a strong rally in the stretch.
“She ran a good race,” trainer Richard Mandella pointed out. “She didn’t have any trouble with the mile and a sixteenth.”
Trainer Richard Mandella had entered the race to test Kopion’s ability at two turns and admitted the effort gave him more to think about.
“Now I’m confused,” Mandella says with a smile. “We’ll just give it a lot of thought and won’t jump to conclusions.”
Sent off as the 11/10 favorite, Seismic Beauty returned $4.20 on a $2 win bet. She now sports a record of four wins, two seconds, and a third from seven career starts.
