Victory Speech Lets the Result Speak for Itself

The yearlong odyssey for Victory Speech took a turn down Easy Street on Sunday at Hollywood Park, where an encore appearance resulted in a 3 1/2-length victory in the $106,100 Laz Barrera Stakes.

This was Victory Speech’s 14th start as a 3-year-old, over 11 tracks, and his sixth victory of the season came over a surface that was kind to him before, in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood in July.

Told that Victory Speech had traveled more than 12,000 miles to get to his races this year, trainer Wayne Lukas said: “Those are all first-class miles.”

The task for Victory Speech, the 4-5 favorite, was made easier when three horses, including the speed-conscious Future Quest and Northern Afleet, were scratched from the 1 1/16-mile race. Zanferrier finished second, four lengths ahead of Alyrob, whose paddock jitters translated into a dull performance.

Victory Speech, ridden by Gary Stevens, carried high weight of 123 pounds, the biggest impost for a winner in the 16-year history of the stake. The other four starters carried six to eight pounds less. Victory Speech paid $3.60 for $2, reaching the wire in 1:41 1/5 and earning $63,600 to push his total past the $900,000 mark. Michael Tabor, who bought Thunder Gulch as a 2-year-old and won the 1995 Kentucky Derby with him, purchased Victory Speech last year shortly after his first victory.

Lukas had considered running Victory Speech in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Woodbine last month, but passed. The son of Deputy Minister and Ida’s Image, an Alydar mare, had run poorly in the Woodbine Million in September, and the day after the Breeders’ Cup, running against New York-breds, he won a $250,000 race at Aqueduct.

Stevens had ridden Victory Speech four times, but had never won with him and was aboard for a sixth-place finish at Woodbine. Riding at Aqueduct on Saturday, Stevens had dinner after the races with Mike Smith, who had ridden Victory Speech to victory in his last start.

“Mike just told me to let the horse do what he wants,” Stevens said. “Mike said that when he made the lead, he started to pull up, but then another horse came up and he threw Mike back into the saddle. So I rode him with a lot of confidence and it was really an impressive performance. Wayne’s got him really good right now.”

So good that when Santa Anita opens on Dec. 26, Lukas is likely to run Victory Speech and Dr. Caton in the Malibu and give Honour And Glory, another Tabor runner, a longer rest. Honour And Glory had been ticketed for the Malibu following his third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Editor’s Note, last year’s Belmont winner and 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, is another Lukas candidate for Santa Anita’s Strub series, which consists of the Malibu, the San Fernando and the Strub stakes.

Pay The Bank established a clear lead early in the Barrera, with Stevens and Victory Speech moving for the lead on the far turn. Alyrob was in third place, not far from Victory Speech, going down the backside, but he never made a serious run. Corey Nakatani, who usually rides Alyrob, rode early on the card and then took off because of a sore leg. He was replaced by Chris McCarron, who won a couple of races with the gelding last winter.

“He moved in there very comfortably, but started to struggle,” McCarron said. “He didn’t finish very well. That’s not him. He usually finishes with a bang.”

Eddie Delahoussaye took over on Zanferrier after Goncalino Almeida, the hard-luck rider of the year, suffered a broken left collarbone in a spill past the wire in the fourth race. Almeida’s mount, Settle Seattle, snapped a foreleg. Almeida broke both legs at Santa Anita in a spill in January.

This was Zanferrier’s best finish in a stakes race. “He ran super,” Delahoussaye said, “but the winner was just too much.”

Horse Racing Notes

After riding at Hollywood Park Wednesday, Chris McCarron will be out of town, riding Awad in Sunday’s Japan Cup in Tokyo. . . . Alex Solis, who has gone to his native Panama to visit an ailing grandfather, will miss Wednesday’s card. . . . Trainer Ron McAnally has added Olimpia Dukakis to his contingent for the $700,000 Matriarch on Dec. 1. Different and Alpride are also scheduled to run. Another probable entry, from trainer Marty Jones’ barn, is Auriette.