Union Strike pulls upset in Del Mar Debutante

A number of high-powered connections sent live runners into the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, but in the end it was maiden Union Strike that became the third non-winner in the history of the event to hit the wire first and pull off the upset for twenty-five-year old trainer Shelbe Ruis.

The $375,000 Union Rags filly settled three-wide on the backstretch, began to uncork her rally on the turn, came even with the leaders at the top of the stretch and inched away late under jockey Martin Garcia. The victory gave Ruis her first graded stakes score and third win at the Del Mar summer meeting.

After the race, Ruis credited her filly’s ability to break as well as being outside her rivals as keys to the win. “She’s a nice filly and everything went pretty smooth getting her ready for this race. Her only issue was the gate. She broke slowly in her first race, but we worked on it and she broke good this time ... I think the outside post this time really helped, too.”

Runner-up American Cleopatra got another perfect trip, but this time could not finish the deal. The full-sister to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah stalked just off the rail on the backstretch, gained the lead on the turn, fought gamely in the lane, but could do no better than second. She should continue to get better with added distance.

Third place finisher Champagne Room also has the look of a filly that should do well around two turns. The Broken Vow filly stalked and made a three-wide bid on the turn, but lacked the needed rally in the stretch to get by American Cleopatra. Jockey Mario Gutierrez stated after the race that “today just wasn’t her best day.”

The seven-furlong event for juvenile fillies was completed in a time of 1:23.22 seconds. The winner paid $17.40, $7.80 and $4.40. American Cleopatra returned $3.60 and $2.60 and Champagne Room paid $2.40 to show. The winning trifecta combination of 7-3-4 returned $68.55 on a fifty-cent wager.