Photo:

Santa Anita / Benoit Photo

Motorious, coming back from a runner-up finish in the
Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, used a late surge under jockey Antonio Fresu to prevail narrowly in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Joe Hernández Stakes going
about 6 1/2 furlongs on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.

Sent off the 4-5 favorite, Motorious settled comfortably in mid-pack as 68-1
long shot Code Duello sprinted down the hill and set fractions of 21.81 and
43.78 seconds. Racing directly to the inside of Motorious throughout was 12-1 Sumter
ridden by Mike Smith.

After Code Duello reached the sixteenth pole in 1:06.07, he began to fade, and
Sumter and Motorious found themselves in a duel to the wire. Sumter appeared to
have a slight advantage in the late going, but Motorious dug in gamely to get
the edge and win by a head.

“He’s proved to be a very good horse sprinting and going down the hill,” said
Fresu, who also rode Motorious in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. “Today I tried
to give him a really good warmup. He was kind of slow in the beginning, and it
was kind of hard to get into his rhythm. When I let him loose down the
lane, he just kept grinding, and I thought he finished best.”

Irideo (16-1), ridden by Héctor Berrios, finished another 1 1/2
lengths back in third. Code Duello held on to complete the superfecta, which
returned $125.60 for 10 cents.

Motorious, trained by Phil D’Amato, won with a time of
1:11.86 on the firm turf.

“I was very nervous,” D’Amato said. “Mike Smith slipped up on the inside
and got the jump on us. It was a dogfight from there on out. Luckily, we
prevailed.”

Motorious is owned by Anthony Fanticola. Bred in England, where he began his
career, the 6-year-old gelding by Muhaarar improved to 21: 8-5-2 with $807,604
in earnings. This was his fourth career stakes win.

Before being defeated by just a neck in the Breeders’ Cup
Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2, Motorious won the Green Flash (G3) for the
second year in a row at Del Mar on Aug. 31. He also won last year’s San Simeon (G3)
on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.

D’Amato said Motorious would get a break and likely return for a 7-year-old
campaign in April or May.

Motorious paid $3.80, $3.00 and $2.40. Sumter,
trained by Richard Mandella, returned $8.40 and $6.60. Irideo, ridden by Hector
Berrios for trainer Marcelo Polanco, paid $6.20.