San Luis Rey horses lead Let It Ride Stakes throughout, Strong Constitution wins

The Let It Ride Stakes race at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Sunday, Nov. 1, was a one-mile contest on Del Mar's turf course, and all three of the colts who led have been training at the San Luis Rey Training Center.

Strong Constitution, who is trained by Doug O'Neill, won the race for 3-year-olds. O'Neill also trains Rookie Mistake, who led entering the stretch before yielding the lead to Strong Constitution. Dominant Soul, who is trained by Paula Capestro, had the lead before the stretch.

"Abel Cedillo, who was on Strong Constitution, just did an amazing job of cutting the corner," O'Neill said. "It was a really gutsy effort by both horse and jockey."

The top four horses finished within 1 3/4 lengths of each other, the top eight horses were within 3 1/2 lengths of each other, and the final finisher among the 10 horses finished 7 1/4 lengths behind Strong Constitution. The first five horses were within 1 1/4 lengths of each other at the beginning of the stretch while the top eight horses at that point were within 2 1/2 lengths of each other.

"Grass racing is positioning and phasing," O'Neill said. "The last quarter-mile everyone starts picking it up."

O'Neill wasn't bothered that Cedillo and Strong Constitution broke first but didn't lead again until late in the race.

"Abel's ridden this one before. He knew what he had and he didn't want this one to go up too early," O'Neill said. "It's more of a strategic phasing."

Dominant Soul, who was ridden by Edwin Maldonado, was the fourth horse out of the gate. Rookie Mistake and jockey Mario Gutierrez broke fifth.

By the end of the first quarter of a mile, Dominant Soul was in the lead. He led second-place Jammers Justice by half a length. Strong Constitution was in third, 1 1/2 lengths in back of Jammers Justice and a length ahead of Rookie Mistake. Rookie Mistake held a one-length lead over fifth-place Lane Way.

The top four horses maintained those positions for the next two furlongs. Dominant Soul completed the first half-mile in 45.62 seconds and was half a length ahead of Jammers Justice. Strong Constitution trailed Jammers Justice by two lengths while Rookie Mistake was a head behind Strong Constitution and 1 1/2 lengths in front of fifth-place Margot's Boy.

Dominant Soul still held the lead three-quarters of a mile into the race, and he reached that point 1:10.16 after the race began. Jammers Justice was a head in back of Dominant Soul. Rookie Mistake had moved into third place and was half a length behind Jammers Justice and half a length in front of Margot's Boy, who had taken over fourth. Strong Constitution was in fifth, a head in back of Margot's Boy and a length ahead of sixth-place Lane Way.

Rookie Mistake moved into the lead by the beginning of the stretch and reached the stretch with 1:22.45 elapsed in the race. He was half a length in front of I'm Leaving You, who was second entering the stretch after being seventh three-quarters of a mile into the race. Strong Constitution was third, a length in back of I'm Leaving You and a head in front of fourth-place Margot's Boy. Dominant Soul had fallen to sixth, a length behind fifth-place Lane Way and 2 1/4 lengths in back of Rookie Mistake.

Cedillo found a gap near the rail and took Strong Constitution to the inside.

"If he wouldn't have taken that chance he wouldn't have got there," O'Neill said.

It put Strong Constitution into the lead when being first was most important.

"That was sensational. It was super gutsy and it took a real gutsy jockey and a real gutsy horse to get that done," O'Neill said.

Strong Constitution had a winning time of 1:34.09. Heywoods Beach entered the stretch in eighth place but finished second, a head behind Strong Constitution and three-quarters of a length in front of Lane Way, who took third.

Rookie Mistake finished seventh, a nose in back of sixth-place Goalie and 3 1/2 lengths behind Strong Constitution.

"He ran a good race. At the end of the day Rookie Mistake is probably best going one turn," O'Neill said.

The most recent win for Rookie Mistake was a 6 1/2-furlong dirt race Sept. 4 at Del Mar. Rookie Mistake has three wins in 15 career starts.

O'Neill expects a sprint to be the next race for Rookie Mistake. The specific race is to be determined.

Dominant Soul was the ninth finisher and crossed the finish line 3 1/2 lengths behind eighth-place Margot's Boy and seven lengths in back of Strong Constitution. The 10th-place horse, Jammers Justice, was 7 1/4 lengths behind Strong Constitution and a head in back of Dominant Soul.

O'Neill said that a training team can prepare a horse but the actual race is up to the horse and jockey.

"Abel did just that," O'Neill said.

The race had a total purse of $81,500 including incentives for California-bred horses. Strong Constitution earned the first-place share of $47,400 and now has career earnings of $155,500. The Let It Ride Stakes was the seventh career race for Strong Constitution and was his first victory since he began his racing career with a win.

Strong Constitution was foaled in Kentucky April 22, 2017. The colt was sired by Constitution out of Earlybird Road. On Aug. 23, 2019, Strong Constitution made his racing debut at Del Mar and won a five-furlong turf race by a 1 1/2-length margin. O'Neill's horses took first and second in the October 2019 Sunny Slope Stakes at Santa Anita Park with Strong Constitution finishing a neck behind Fore Left. In November 2019, Strong Constitution finished second, 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner, in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar which was Cedillo's first race on Strong Constitution.

O'Neill then gave Strong Constitution a layup. The break from racing was not due to injury but rather to the change in competition from 2-year-olds to 3-year-olds.

"He just needed time to mature," O'Neill said.

Strong Constitution had five timed workouts at San Luis Rey between June 30 and July 30 before being shipped to his racing venues. He returned to racing Aug. 9, in an allowance race at Del Mar and finished fourth. He followed that with third place in allowance races Sept. 5 at Del Mar and Oct. 4 at Santa Anita. Cedillo was the jockey in the Sept. 5 and Oct. 4 races.

"He's just a horse that seems to get better and better," O'Neill said.

The next race for Strong Constitution is to be determined.

"We're going to see what our options are," O'Neill said.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].