Santa Anita: Hernández rides Test Score to win Twilight Derby
The fall meet’s leading rider Juan Hernández made it a stakes double Saturday at Santa Anita when he guided post-time favorite Test Score to a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 Twilight Derby for five 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
About 1 1/2 hours earlier Hernández won the Tokyo City Cup Stakes aboard Privman.
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With blinkers added, Test Score (3-5) settled in fourth while racing on the outside and in the clear as Septembersixtyfour (11-1) carved fractions of 23.55, 47.81 and 1:13.19. Test Score launched his bid at the quarter pole and then swept past the field in the final furlong to win at a time of 1:47.66.
Maaz, a 15-1 long shot, rallied from last to be second under Ricky González. Namaron, the 5-2 second choice ridden by Héctor Berrios, was another half-length back in third. Septembersixtyfour and Scipio were fourth and fifth in that order.
“All the credit goes to my horse, because he broke well and put himself in a nice spot,” Hernández said. “I was just traveling with him. He wanted to be there, and he was happy. All I did turning for home was just swing out.”
A 3-year-old colt by Lookin at Lucky, Test Score is trained by Graham Motion and campaigned by breeder Amerman Racing. He won the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) in July, was third in the Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) on Aug. 2 and most recently finished fourth in the Nashville Derby Invitational (G3) at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30.
Motion was not at Santa Anita on Saturday. Test Score was saddled by assistant trainer Alice Clapham.
“He ran great, and Juan gave him a great ride,” Clapham said. “It worked out really well. He is a straightforward colt and just runs his heart out every time he runs.”
For Hernández, the Twilight Derby was his seventh stakes win at the fall meet to lead all jockeys. He also is poised to clinch his ninth Santa Anita riding title on closing day Sunday.
“This afternoon my agent (Craig O’Bryan) told me we had some good ones today, and he was right,” Hernández said.
Test Score paid $3.20, $2.20 and $2.10. Second-place Maaz, trained by Michael McCarthy, paid $6.80 and $3.20. Third-place Namaron, with Hector Berrios aboard for trainer John Sadler, returned $2.40.