Del Mar: 20-1 long shot Hang the Moon upsets Mabee

Before Saturday, jockey Kazushi Kimura had not won a stakes race at Del Mar. At the end of the day he can say he has won two, including the Grade 2, $251,000 John C. Mabee Stakes aboard outsider Hang the Moon, who races for the Texas outfit CJ Thoroughbreds.

Kimura, 25, spending his first summer at Del Mar, already scored a huge Grade 1 success on 2-year-old filly Tenma in the Del Mar Debutante.

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In the Mabee, Kimura came with a late rush with the 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo and got her home by a half-length in the 1 1/8-mile turf race. She paid a healthy $43.00 for $2 for long-shot players after putting up a winning time of 1:48.50 after early fractions of 24.65, 48.39, 1:12.85 and 1:36.87.

“This is the first time I have gotten to ride her, but in this race, I know who the best horse is, and I tried to finish up strong,” Kimura said. “Today it seemed best just to follow Anisette, and my filly seemed pretty comfortable throughout.”

Lucky Girl finished second, a head better than Anisette. Eastern invader Didia, the 7-10 favorite, finished fourth.

Hang the Moon earned a first prize of $150,000 and pushed her career bankroll to $307,913. She has won 4 of 11 lifetime starts, and the Mabee was her first stakes victory.

“She came to me to run in these kind of races, and I thought she just improved from race to race,” D’Amato said. “She ran a really good second to Ag Bullet last time, and Ag Bullet came back and won a $1 million race at Kentucky Downs, so I think she was a little overlooked here. Give a big shout out to K.K. (Kimura). He got her into a big stride there saving all the ground for the last quarter-mile. She showed a really nice turn of foot to beat a couple of Grade 1 winners today.”