Heavy Pressure Not Enough to Stop Riboletta

Although the margin of victory didn’t match any of her three stakes wins at Hollywood Park, Riboletta’s owner, Aaron Jones, was more than impressed with the mare’s expected success Saturday in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap.

In fact, given the circumstances, he thought her fourth consecutive--and 11th lifetime victory--might have been the 5-year-old mare’s best effort.

Despite having to carry a career-high 125 pounds--spotting her opponents from 6-16 pounds--and having the saddle slip during the race, the 2-5 favorite continued her dominance of the older filly and mare division in California.

After tracking a moderate pace set by Gourmet Girl, Riboletta got the lead with about a quarter of a mile to go and went on to beat Bordelaise by 1 1/2 lengths under jockey Chris McCarron in 1:42 for the 1 1/16 miles.

This is probably the last time the Brazilian-bred will run in California for a while. She is scheduled to go to New York for the Ruffian Handicap on Sept. 16, then could travel to Kentucky for the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland in October and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.

If she is to participate in the Distaff against Eastern stars Heritage Of Gold and defending champion Beautiful Pleasure, Riboletta is going to have to be supplemented for $400,000 because neither she nor her sire (Roi Normand) is Breeders’ Cup eligible.

Jones isn’t looking that far ahead, but he did enjoy what he saw Saturday.

“She’s one tough, tough mare,” he said. “She’s a brilliant runner. Her saddle slipped, the weight was more than ample and she stood up to the challenge.”

The owner also had words of praise for Riboletta’s trainer Eduardo Inda. Brought to this country from Chile by the man the race was named for, Inda has won five of eight with the mare since he replaced Bob Baffert in January.

“She understands him and Eduardo understands her,” Jones said. “He has a lot of faith in the mare. She’s just a different animal since he got a hold of her.”

Bordelaise, a 9-1 longshot, finished second, a half-length in front of Gourmet Girl, then came Speaking Of Time, Excellent Meeting, the 7-2 second choice, and Lovellon.

After making a menacing move around the far turn, Excellent Meeting lost her punch in the final furlong and is clearly not the filly she once was. She has lost six in a row and has won only once in her last nine for Baffert and owners John and Betty Mabee.

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Baffert will try for his third consecutive win in the $150,000 Sorrento Stakes today when he sends out Fort Lauderdale, the 8-5 morning line favorite.

A winner the last two years with Silverbulletday and Chilukki, Baffert’s representative in the Grade II race, which is a prep for the $250,000 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 2, broke her maiden at Del Mar 15 days ago. Owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt, the Montbrook filly drew outside in the field of seven and will be ridden by Corey Nakatani.

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John’s Call, who was part of the mutuel field, found a soggy turf course to his liking, easily winning the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap at Saratoga.

Ridden by Jean-Luc Samyn for the Trillium Stable and trainer Tom Voss, the 9-year-old Lord Of War gelding rallied along the rail with about a half mile to run, then drew away in the stretch to win by 9 1/4 lengths in 2:32 for the 1 1/2 miles.

He paid $16.80 for his 14th win in 32 starts. Aly’s Alley, the other member of the mutuel field, was second, 5 1/4 lengths in front of Single Empire, who was ridden by Kent Desormeaux for trainer Neil Drysdale. Boatman, the 5-2 favorite trained by Bobby Frankel, was last in the field of eight, which was reduced by five scratches.

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After a record 275 horses were claimed at Hollywood Park, the purchasing frenzy has continued at Del Mar.

Through the first 15 days of the meet, 99 horses had been claimed. Talk to trainers about why and the answer is simple.

“I just think a lot of owners are here for the summer and they want to be in action,” said Nick Canani, who has been very active in recent months for owner Richard Englander, who also has horses in the East and Midwest with various trainers. “The economy’s up and a lot of owners wanted to get horses early in the meet so they can run them back one or two times before the meet ends (on Sept. 13).

“This has always been a place where there has been a lot of claiming, but I think you’re going to start seeing it slow down.”

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Hallowed Dreams failed in her bid to become the first horse to win 17 consecutive races, losing in the $36,000 Millennium Stakes at Evangline Downs in Carencro, La.

Hallowed Dreams bobbled after the start, and jockey Sylvester Carmouche had to hustle her back into contention, but the speedy filly faltered badly to finish third behind Sparkles of Luck and Ides Beward.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.