Disturbingthepeace Stays Hot

Although it did not come easy, Disturbingthepeace remained the hottest sprinter in the country Sunday at Del Mar.

The California-bred gelding, who was purchased as part of a package by owner David Milch more than a year ago, won for the sixth time in a row, taking the $150,000 Pat O’Brien by a head over a stubborn Hot Market.

Trained by Darrell Vienna and ridden by Victor Espinoza, who has been the jockey in his three most recent victories, the 7-10 favorite completed the seven furlongs in 1:21 4/5. The 4-year-old also became the first horse since Bruho in 1991 to win the Bing Crosby and the Pat O’Brien in the same year.

While Hot Market set the pace, Disturbingthepeace, who has now won four of five at seven furlongs, sat second, then appeared ready to take charge into the lane, but the runner-up didn’t quit. Love That Silver rallied for third ahead of Blu Air Force and Mellow Fellow. Komax was scratched earlier in the day.

There is a distinct possibility the Grade II O’Brien was Disturbingthepeace’s last race until the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 26 at Arlington Park.

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Jockey Edgar Prado won four races at Saratoga to move into a tie with Jerry Bailey atop the standings. One of his wins came on rising star Wonder Again in the $150,000 Lake Placid Stakes.

A 3-year-old Silver Hawk filly owned and bred by Joan Phillips and her son, John, and trained by James Toner, Wonder Again cruised to a 2 1/4-length win over 120-pound highweight Riskaverse. In winning her third in a row on the grass, Wonder Again, a 9-2 shot, ran the 1 1/8 miles over a yielding course in 1:49 1/5.

Prado, who won with Piston in the first race, Patriotic Legend in the second and Float And Sting in the fourth, has 32 victories at the meet, which concludes on Sept. 2.

“I think this filly can be a Grade I winner,” said Prado after Wonder Again made a successful stakes debut in the Grade II. “She has a lot of class and ability.”

Making her first start since finishing eighth in the inaugural American Oaks at Hollywood Park last month, Riskaverse finished 2 1/2 lengths clear of 40-1 outsider Miss Marcia.

Kirtle, the mild 3-1 favorite who had looked good beating a so-so field at Del Mar on July 29, finished fourth. She was ridden by Mike Smith, who had a lost weekend in upstate New York. Saturday, he was unseated by Gander at the start of the $300,000 Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap and was left without a mount in the $750,000 Alabama when Bella Bellucci was scratched because of the track condition.

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Cat’s At Home, a 10-1 shot, went wire-to-wire under jockey Jose Velez Jr. to take the $350,000 Philip H. Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park.

The Grade II was expected to be easy pickings for Include, but the 1-2 favorite never looked comfortable. At the wire, he and Bailey were sixth in the field of seven, beaten by some 16 lengths.

“No comment,” Bailey said. “You can ask me any question you want and I’ll say no.”

A multiple-stakes winner owned by Robert Meyerhoff and trained by Bud Delp, Include had won 10 of 18 entering the Iselin.

Trained by Mark Hennig for owner-breeder Edward Evans, Cat’s At Home ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49, beating second choice Bowman’s Band by three-quarters of a length. It was the ninth win in 26 starts for Cat’s At Home, but his first in a graded stakes since he took the Excelsior at Aqueduct on April 28, 2001.

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Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden, who rode Count Fleet to the Triple Crown in 1943, has suffered a stroke. Longden, 95, was resting Sunday at his Banning home.

“He’s comfortable, he’s not in pain, but he’s weak and he sleeps a lot,” his wife, Cathy, said.