Mucho Unusual rallies for first graded stakes win in San Clemente

After winning the Grade 2 $200,000 San Diego Handicap earlier in the afternoon aboard Catalina Cruiser, jockey Joel Rosario made his trip West even more worthwhile as he rallied 5-2 betting choice Mucho Unusual from last to capture the $200,000 San Clemente Stakes (G2) for three-year-old fillies Saturday.

Outrun in the early stages of the one-mile grass event, Rosario cut loose Mucho Unusual on the far turn, swung wide to rally entering the stretch and collared another late runner, 17-1 Apache Princess, in the final yards to win by a neck in 1:34.66.

“She just didn’t show me a lot (of speed) early, so I let her do her thing away from there," Rosario said. "On the backside, she wanted to go, so we went after them. Turning for home, I thought about going down inside, but she was making up ground and I didn’t want to chance it. She had that nice acceleration through the stretch and we got it.  

Apache Princess, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, was three-quarters of a length ahead of Over Emphasize, with Keeper Ofthe Stars, the 5-2 second choice, fourth in the field of ten fillies.

Desormeaux took the blame for the loss, which came riding for trainer and brother Keith Desormeaux.

“I was on a nice horse and I moved too soon," Kent said. "It’s on me.”

Mucho Unusual, owned and bred in California by George Krikorian and trained by Tim Yakteen, returned $7 while earning $120,000 with her fourth victory in only seven outings.