Hope Road and Unrivaled Time injected plenty of pace into the closing stages of the Del Mar meet

The mare captured the GII Bayakoa Stakes, while the colt took home the GIII Cecil B. deMille Stakes

Hope Road completed the double in the Bayakoa / BENOIT PHOTO

DEL MAR, California (Special to Turf Diario)—On a high-quality afternoon at Del Mar, two powerful performances shaped the closing moments of the meet, with Hope Road defending her title in the GIII Bayakoa Stakes (1600m, dirt, $101,500) and juvenile Unrivaled Time confirming his upward trajectory in the GIII Cecil B. DeMille Stakes(1600m, turf, $101,000).

Hope Road took center stage first, reaffirming her status as a standout by repeating last year’s victory in the race named after the legendary Argentine mare. Breaking sharply, the Quality Road filly settled in second, shadowing pacesetter Simply Joking (Practical Joke) at will. Once Juan Hernández asked her to quicken in the stretch, the Bob Bafferttrainee responded with genuine authority—switching leads smoothly and drawing away without resistance to win by an impressive 6 1/2 lengths.

“She’s a very professional filly—she broke well, relaxed when she needed to, and waited for every cue. Bob has worked a lot on that, and you can tell. I just had to stay with her,” Hernández said. From the barn, Jimmy Barnes also highlighted her growing maturity: “She’d already handled two turns once before, and she did it perfectly again. She loves Del Mar.”

Behind her, Simply Joking held second by 2 3/4 lengths over Mahina (Bolt d’Oro), who closed from the back and managed to save the show spot by a nose. Fractions were :23.15, :47.32 and 1:11.46, with a final time of 1:36.38.

Bred by Cicero Farms LLC, Hope Road entered the race off her third-place finish in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, and now boosts her résumé to six wins from 14 starts, surpassing $1 million in earnings.

Later, attention turned to the 2-year-olds in the Cecil B. DeMille, where Unrivaled Time validated the promise he showed in his dominant maiden score. Under Diego Herrera, the Not This Time colt sat patiently as Proton (Astern) and Track Tiger (Sharp Azteca) carved out the early fractions. Around the far turn, things tightened: Proton fought back, Hey Nay Nay (No Nay Never) launched from behind, and Unrivaled Time slipped through a perfectly timed gap to take command with authority.

In the final yards, he had to repel the late surge of Iriseach (Unbettabelieveit), who closed to within three-quarters of a length, with Hey Nay Nay finishing third. Despite a brief stewards’ review for a minor outward move late, the result stood. Final time for the mile on turf was 1:36.42.

“I just wanted him always comfortable. He’s matured so much these last few months, and he showed it today,” Herrera said. Trainer Leonard Powell was equally pleased: “He won very well against the Cal-breds, but the question was whether he could do it here. The answer was clear.”

Bred by Alfred Pais and racing for Pais along with Innergy Racing, Unrivaled Time returned $13 to win.