Yesterdayoncemore, Espinoza rally in Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf
Making her United States debut, Irish-bred Yesterdayoncemore rallied in the stretch under Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza to win the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, a supporting feature on closing day Labor Day Monday of the 2019 summer season.
Yesterdayoncemore, who entered the one-mile contest as a maiden, never having won in five starts in Ireland, moved authoritatively under Espinoza’s direction on the far turn.
She was able to split horses in the upper stretch and went on to score by a length in 1:35.67 for the mile over the infield grass course.
The winner, owned by the partnership of Deron Pearson of DP Racing, Mrs. Paul Shanahan and Mrs. M.V. Magnier, is conditioned by James Stack, a native of Tipperary, Ireland.
Yesterdayoncemore led a sweep of the first three places by Irish-bred fillies in the Juvenile Fillies Turf as Croughavouke was second under Drayden Van Dyke and Applecross third, 3 ¼ lengths behind the runner-up and one and one-half lengths in front of fourth-place Shedaresthedevil, the 6-5 favorite in the field of 11.
Withdrawn were A Thousand Dreams and Mean Sophia.
Yesterdayoncemore, a daughter of No Nay Never, returned $24 while earning first prize of $60,000.
“They said in a perfect world, if you can sit three or four lengths back, cover her up, and then make a late run,” said Espinoza, who won the 101st Del Mar stakes of his career. “It worked out just that way. She’s built strong and I thought she’d love this turf. Sure enough. I was just going to play it with her off the break, and she broke great.
“This kind of horse will pretty much take you there. She did today. This has been a very good meet for me. I’m very pleased. I really couldn’t have asked for more.”