From DMTC Publicity
DEL MAR, Calif. (Aug. 11, 2017) — For the second straight year, Majestic Heat and jockey Flavien Prat won the $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes, and for the second straight year they won the grass race for Golden State Series eligible fillies and mares by the slimmest of margins, a nose.
Sent postward the 3-5 favorite, Majestic Heat was well-rated on the lead by Prat, shook off the stalking How Unusual in mid-stretch but then was pushed to the limit to barely resist the last-ditch challenge of the fast-closing Moonless Sky, piloted by Kent Desormeaux.
The stewards conducted an inquiry after How Unusual was forced to take up by jockey Norberto Arroyo, Jr. when Moonless Sky came through an opening in pursuit of Majestic Heat. However, they ruled that the incident did not warrant a change in the placings.
Majestic Heat, a five-year-old daughter of Unusual Heat bred by Madeline Auerbach and Barry Abrams, owned by Auerbach, McCauley and Bardy Farm and trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, was timed in 1:42.38 for the mile and one-sixteenth in scoring her fifth victory in a dozen starts.
Last summer, she was timed in 1:34.98 for a mile in nosing out Tiz a Kiss while packing 121 pounds, two more than Friday.
Majestic Heat returned $3.40, $2.60 and $2.60 while earning $85,500 to boost her earnings total to $352,639. Runner-up paid $4 and $3, while How Unusual returned $4 to show.
There were no perfect tickets in Friday’s Pick Six. Thus, Saturday’s ten race program will feature a Pick Six carryover of $73,503.