Hyperbaric wins at Hollywood Park. November 29th, 2008
Hyperbaric led all the way Friday to win the $400,000 Citation Handicap by three-quarters of a length over Formal Decree at Hollywood Park for his fourth straight victory.
Ridden by Tyler Baze, Hyperbaric covered 1 1-16 miles on turf in 1:41.29 and paid $13, $6.20 and $4. The win was the seventh in 12 lifetime starts for Hyperbaric and was worth $240,000, raising the career earnings of the 5-year-old son of Sky Classic to $654,476.
When I called on him at the three-eighths pole, he jumped into the bridle and was ready to roll, Baze said. I figured since (Formal Decree) had the outside Id be able to slow them down a little bit. After we got that first half, he was in cruise control the rest of the way.
Hes a nice horse, hes game. He doesnt like to let horses get by him. This is the second time Ive ridden him. The first time I rode him we had kind of had a troubled trip. I probably should have won on him that day Daytona beat him a neck. Today, they gave me another chance to ride him and he gave me 100 percent.
Formal Decree returned $4 and $4.60. Becrux, a 23-1 long shot, finished third in the race for 3-year-olds and up and paid $9 to show. Whatsthescript, the even-money favorite in a field of nine, was never a factor and finished sixth.
Hyperbaric, winner of the Oak Tree Mile in his previous start, had not run in two months.
There wasnt much speed in the race, thats why I passed the Breeders Cup, trainer Julio Canani said. He was invited to Hong Kong to run Dec. 15, but I preferred to run him in here. My horse came fresh into the race, so I felt he had a pretty good chance. I think were going to point him toward the Duty Free in Dubai.
Earlier in the day, Habaya used a strong finish to win the $113,800 Miesque Stakes by three-quarters of a length over Internallyflawless.
Habaya, ridden by Richard Migliore, covered one mile on turf in 1:37.07 and paid $6.80, $4.20 and $3.20 as the second choice in a field of 12. The win was the second in three races for Habaya and was worth $73,800, raising the career earnings of the 2-year-old daughter of Storm Cat to $135,000.
Internallyflawless returned $4.60 and $3.80. Eloquently, third in the race for 2-year-old fillies, paid $4.80 to show. Emmy Darling, the 2-1 favorite, led in the late going before fading to fourth place.