Twice The Appeal Upsets Sunland Derby

A brisk pace helped Twice The Appeal spring the upset over Astrology in Sunday's Grade 3 Sunland Derby.

Post time favorite Sinai broke a bit slow and rushed up to set rapid splits of :22.61, :45.03, and 1:10.89. The Bob Baffert trainee never got a chance to relax with Nacho Saint, R Skydiver, and Astrology breathing down his neck.

Sinai was breathing fire and gave way rapidly. Nacho Saint and R Skydiver were also cooked, so Astrology took a short lead but it would not last long.

Twice The Appeal sat back in 6th, moved up to 3rd after six furlongs, and gradually pulled clear to post a 1-1/2 length score at 25-1 under Christian Santiago-Reyes. He paid $53.20 to win for trainer Jeff Bonde.

Astrology just held the place over Ruler On Ice with It's My Party another 2-1/2 lengths back in 4th. Beer Meister was next, followed by Nacho Saint, Fusa Code, R Skydiver, Supreme Ruler, Behold ds Buy, and Sinai.

The winning nine furlong time was 1:50.91 and Twice The Appeal picked up $400,000 in graded earnings.