Mucho Del Oro Adds Breakthrough Graded Win To Record In San Simeon

Mucho Del Oro earned his second stakes victory and first for trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Purple Rein Racing when prevailing by half a length in Saturday’s $100,000 San Simeon (G3) going 6½ furlongs on the hillside turf course.

Mucho Del Oro and Juan Hernandez grabbed the lead after breaking sharply, but quickly had company on the front-end. Both Dancing Buck and Air Force Red pressed on the outside as Mucho Del Oro set fractions of :22.36 and :44.31 for the opening half mile.

It remained that way as the field passed the dirt crossing into the stretch. Air Force Red began to falter in the stretch, eventually finishing second-to-last, but Mucho Del Oro and Dancing Buck continued their confrontation. Mucho Del Oro held a one-length lead at the eighth pole and then dutifully kept to task to ultimately prevail by a half-length.

Dancing Buck trained by Richard Dutrow Jr. and ridden by Edwin Maldonado, held on for second by a neck over 2-1 favorite Lane Way with another neck back to Sumter in fourth. 

Mucho Del Oro paid $7.80 for the win. 

The winning time for about 6½ furlongs on a turf listed as good was 1:12.76.

A 6-year-old gelding by Mucho Macho Man out of the Broken Vow mare Repeta, Mucho Del Oro improves to 9-2-0 in 17 starts with $355,100 in earnings. 

Janie Buss’ Purple Rein Racing claimed Mucho Del Oro for $50,000 last June at Santa Anita. Subsequently sent to the sidelines, he returned almost seven months later to be second by a nose Jan. 28 in Clockers’ Corner Stakes on the hillside turf course.

Mucho Del Oro’s only other stakes win came in last year’s Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile Handicap at Turf Paradise for trainer Vladimir Cerin. He was bred in Kentucky by BHMFR LLC.

 SAN SIMEON STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ, MUCHO DEL ORO, WINNER: “He tries all the time. Last time he came from a layoff, and they caught me right at the wire, he needed that race. Today Doug O’Neill had him ready, I asked him this morning and he said the horse was doing really good, training phenomenal and he was right. The horse showed up today. He went to the gate and he broke really sharp, I think that is his style out of the gate that’s how he likes to run. Turning for home when we crossed the dirt to the turf again, he responded really well. He was all heart today.”

OWNER QUOTES

JANIE BUSS, MUCHO DEL ORO, WINNER: “At the top of the stretch the pace was slower, in his last race he got beat on the wire by another horse (Irideo) who was in this race. I had ultimate confidence in my horse’s ability and in (Hernandez) getting him home because he knows what he is doing on this particular turf."