Sunriver finally makes grade

After five failures at four tracks, Sunriver finally became a Grade I winner in his first visit to California.

A full brother to multiple stakes winner Ashado, Sunriver led throughout as the 2-1 second choice to win the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Saturday.

Owned by breeders Aaron and Marie Jones and trained by Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old Saint Ballado colt was able to get away with slow fractions early under jockey Garrett Gomez, then finished with a flourish to win by nearly three lengths over 17-10 favorite Champs Elysees. The final time for the 1 1/2 miles over a course labeled good was 2:27.07.

The victory was the third in six starts on grass for Sunriver since Pletcher moved him to the surface in June. Although he hadn’t won a Grade I until Saturday, Sunriver had hardly been disgraced in elite company. He had been second or third in three of his losses and was only one length behind longshot winner Jambalaya when finishing in a dead heat for fourth in the Arlington Million on Aug. 11.

“We’ve been pointing for this race for a while,” Pletcher said after his 56th graded stakes win of the year, one shy of the record he set in 2006. “With a horse like this, and the major stallion prospect he is and with the pedigree he has, we were focused on getting that Grade I, so it was a big step for him.

“He ran a big race. I didn’t feel like the distance was an issue. My main concern was whether or not the forecast was going to be accurate and we were going to get more rain.”

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The outcome wasn’t nearly as much to form in the $111,800 Native Diver Handicap, the day’s other graded race.

Heatseeker, the third-longest shot in the field at 30-1, rallied from off the pace to defeat Racketeer and eight others for his third win in eight starts this year.

The victory for the 4-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway was his second in three starts since he joined the barn of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Owned by Willie de Burgh and ridden by Michael Baze, Heatseeker completed the 1 1/8 miles in the Grade III in 1:47.23.

Second in three of his first four starts around two turns in this country, Heatseeker won for the first time in his career beyond 7 1/2 furlongs and also moved Hollendorfer closer to a milestone.

He is six wins short of becoming only the fourth trainer to win 5,000 races, joining Dale Baird (9,442 victories), Jack Van Berg (6,378) and King Leatherbury (6,225).

“Jerry told me that there were a few speed horses in here and try to sit just behind them,” Baze said.

“I worked this horse the last six or seven times. He’s a horse you have to be patient with because he has a huge kick and you just have to save it for that last part.”

Looking for a stakes sweep, Pletcher had to settle for fourth with Ravel, the 6-5 favorite in the Native Diver.

In his first start against older, the 3-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus had a three-race win streak stopped in only his second outing since Feb. 3. He finished 4 3/4 lengths behind Heatseeker.

“He kind of got stuck down inside most of the way, but you know, one of the things we were concerned about going in was that this is a pretty lightly raced horse going up against some seasoned, older horses with a lot more starts under their belts,” Pletcher said.

“It was a good education for him and we learned a little bit about the way he needs to be ridden. Hopefully, he’ll improve on it next time.”

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bob.mieszerski@latimes.com