By Bloodhorse.com
DEL MAR, Calif. (Aug. 13, 2017) – California-bred Skye Diamonds has earned $389,100 for owners Tom Acker, Allen Racing, Bloom Racing, and Jon Lindo since she was claimed for $40,000 at Del Mar last August.
The latest installment was the $60,000 first-place purse from Sunday’s Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar. The prize money from the $100,000 race may not have been hefty, but there can be no doubt Skye Diamonds is rated among the top contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here Nov. 4.
Whether she starts again before that race was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the Rancho Bernardo. Instead, winning trainer Bill Spawr was focused on the style of her win, closing between rivals in the final three furlongs to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:15.95.
Skye Diamonds ($3.60), bred by Dizney Double Diamond, was briefly behind pacesetter Rockport Babe while racing on the inside on the backstretch before winning rider Tiago Pereira moved her off the rail.
“I was worried if she’d get out in time,” Spawr said. “She just wants to win. She overcomes things.”
Skye Diamonds beat Constellation, the winner of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December. Skye Diamonds and Constellation were first and second in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 8.
Bendable, the winner of the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita on June 18, finished third Sunday, beaten 4 1/2 lengths.
“I think she had a cleaner trip last time and she had a tougher trip this time,” Spawr said. “The last time she beat a Grade 1 winner and the filly that won the Breeders’ Cup. These are good fillies she’s beating.”
Constellation is winless in four starts since the La Brea. She was beaten 2 1/2 lengths in the Great Lady M. Constellation was well-placed Sunday throughout and led by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong to go.
“We had a good trip,” jockey Flavien Prat said. “I thought I was fine. I thought I was home.”
Skye Diamonds, a 4-year-old filly by First Dude, has won 9 of 16 starts and earned $509,150. She has won 6 of 8 starts since being claimed, a span that includes the Dream of Summer Stakes for California-breds at a mile on dirt at Santa Anita in late March.