Story by
Miss Monica Provides Bob Baffert 13th Del Mar Debutante Win
- Story by
- Miss Monica Provides Bob Baffert 13th Del Mar Debutante Win
Miss Monica Provides Bob Baffert 13th Del Mar Debutante Win
Miss Monica won for fun Saturday at Del Mar in the 76th running of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.
The dark bay or brown daughter of Early Voting tracked a pair of speed fillies for the first half mile of the seven-furlong test, then assumed command readily, and drew out to win in the end by 6 1/4 lengths.
Advertisement
Her final time for the $302,000 stakes was 1:23.54. She was a stout 2-5 favorite and paid her backers $2.80 to win.
Miss Monica was saddled by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for his 13th victory in the Debutante. She was ridden by Juan Hernandez, who was capturing his 11th stakes of the meet.
Winning owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman won this race previously with Executiveprivilege in 2012.
Finishing second was Crazy Hot Mess, who had 1 1/2 lengths on third-place finisher Holmby.
Miss Monica earned a first prize of $180,000. She is 2-for-2 in her brief career.
Bred in Kentucky by Doug Branham, Felicia Branham, Pippa's Hurricane LLC, Miss Monica was produced by the American Pharoah mare Lipstikliesnlovers and was an $850,000 purchase in April at the OBS Spring Two-Year-Old in Training Sale.
Advertisement
DEL MAR DEBUTANTE QUOTES
JUAN HERNANDEZ (Miss Monica, winner) – "She broke OK, but those other two fillies were going fast up front. My filly was doing fine and when I came up to those other two we just went right on by. She changed leads for me and when that happened it was all over."
BOB BAFFERT (Miss Monica, winner) – "We had a great post and she was able to put herself into a good spot. J.J. Hernandez rode her with a lot of confidence. We know going seven-eighths is demanding but at the three-eighths pole you could tell she was cruising and she went to the lead on her own. She's that good of a filly. I'm always happy to win this race especially for the 'Three Amigos' — Pegram, Watson, and Weitman. I'm relieved. I knew she was going to win but crazy things happen."
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on Sep 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
