Racing at Del Mar : Pincay and Cheval Volant Come Back for More, Win Sorrento Stakes

For Laffit Pincay Jr., who could see Wednesday’s $75,000-added Sorrento Stakes slipping away from 2-year-old filly Cheval Volant, it was a time for desperation.

For Kenneth Jumps, Cheval Volant’s trainer, it was a time to keep the faith.

In the end, Cheval Volant rewarded Pincay for his desperate action--a left-handed-whip--and Jumps for his confidence by coming back to win the seven-furlong race for two-year-old fillies by 1 3/4 lengths over Breezing Dixie at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

After taking the lead at the half-pole, Cheval Volant gave it up to Breezing Dixie and trailed by 2 1/2 lengths entering the stretch.

“I thought I was a beaten horse,” said Pincay, who took his fourth Sorrento Stakes. “Luckily, she responded to the whip. She hadn’t run in weeks, and she was getting tired, but she showed a lot of courage to come back like that.”

It was something Jumps said he knew his filly had.

“I knew she’d keep on running, plus I had Laffit up,” Jumps said. “He’s the best in the world, and when you’ve got him going for you on a horse that wants to run, that’s a tough combination.”

Pincay wasn’t so sure his horse could recover from her slumber.

“When you see a horse go by like that, they usually don’t respond again,” he said.

Jumps, who owns a piece of Cheval Volant along with three others, said the Sept. 3 Del Mar Debutante is next up for the filly.

Will one mile at the Debutante be a problem?

“The way she’s bred, I think the farther they go, the better,” Jumps said.

Jumps purchased Cheval Volant, or “flying horse” in French, for $67,000 at Calder in Florida.

“After this race, it sure looks like a bargain,” Jumps said.

The only apparent negative for Cheval Volant was the blood flowing from her nostrils after the finish.

One of Cheval Volant’s major challengers, D. Wayne Lukas’ Rue De Palm--who was sent to the post at 2-1--never made it out of the gate. She became feisty while awaiting the start and was scratched after hitting her head.

Jockey Gary Stevens said the incident was not totally unexpected.

“She’s a bad actor in the gate,” Stevens said. “She just blew up. She froze and lunged into the front of the gate and hit her head pretty good.”

Dancing Jamie, ridden by Russell Baze, finished a neck behind Breezing Dixie to show.

“She ran a big race,” Baze said. “She got a little tired on me in the last part.”

Cheval Volant, an 8-5 favorite, paid $3.60, $3 and $2.40. Breezing Dixie paid $11 and $4.80, and Dancing Jamie paid $4.

Del Mar Notes

Dr. Ed Giammarino’s The Medic, who finished seventh in an eight-horse field in the $275,250 Grade I Eddie Read Handicap Sunday, came out of the race with a fractured cannon bone and will be sidelined about six months. . . . Trainer Jay Robbins said he would skip the Del Mar Derby with Continental after an unsatisfactory workout Monday. . . . Pendleton and Royal T Stable’s Music Merci worked a half mile in 48 1/5 under exercise rider Martin Ruiz. Music Merci, a 3-year-old millionaire and the winner of the Del Mar Futurity, will carry a high weight of 122 pounds in the $200,000-added Grade II Del Mar Derby Sunday at 1 1/8 miles on the turf. No horse has ever swept the Del Mar Futurity and Derby. . . . Wednesday’s Pick Six pot of $1,333,933 was a record. The 39 winning tickets paid $28,121.60 each. . . . To make better use of the grass, the inside rail on the turf course at Del Mar was moved out 12 feet Tuesday on both turns and the stretch. The fence will be moved back again in two weeks after the worn grass on the inside has been refurbished.