Grade 1 Del Mar double for half-siblings Salamis and Segesta

Saturday and Sunday saw half-sibings Salamis and Segesta capture the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby and Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes respectively, for fantastic weekend at Del Mar for Juddmonte and Trainer Chad Brown.

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 30th November and 1st December:

Juddmonte homebred Salamis largely avoided traffic issues in what ended up a sit-sprint renewal of the Gr.1 Hollywood Derby, and, with clear sailing through the final furlong, was along in the final strides to give his late sire his second new Graded winner on the program.
He was taken back to the latter third of the field by Umberto Rispoli, with odds-on Test Score riding the rails to his inside and Salamis had cover on the back of Tom's Magic behind a dawdling half-mile in :49.92.

With no traffic to his outside, Salamis continued to follow the move of Tom's Magic around the turn, while Test Score was ridden more for luck, sweating on an inside run beneath Juan Hernandez. Rispoli steered Salamis off Tom's Magic's heels with three-sixteenths of a mile to race and accelerated sharply down the center of the track to be along in the nick of time. Test Score was hopelessly blocked for a run entering the final furlong and kicked hard once clear, but all too late.

"We had a nice chat this morning," said Rispoli. "Chad (Brown) was pretty straight-forward, which was to pump him out of the gate. Don't be afraid, just let him settle. Come around with your right side clear. I worked on him out of the gate. I was a little bit worried with the slow pace, but I know Chad's horses always have a nice turn of foot."

It was a record-breaking fifth Hollywood Derby for Brown dating back to 2016. He previously shared the record with Charlie Whittingham.

Continuing the powerful run during Del Mar's closing weekend of racing, trainer Chad Brown and Juddmonte once again held the winning card in the day's feature, taking Sunday's Gr.1 Matriarch Stakes with Segesta, a half-sister to Gr.I Hollywood Derby winner, Salamis.
In Our Time and Ag Bullet went to the front early as 8-5 choice Segesta was allowed to settle in fourth through :23.65 and :48.06 initial splits. With the 25-1 still cruising along up front through a half in :48.06, the Juddmonte homebred was in perfect striking position - three
lengths behind the leader - exiting the far turn.

The favourite's pilot, Flavien Prat, asked for another gear and got it approaching the quarter pole as the bay extended her stride to reel in the hard-trying leaders turning for home. In full down the stretch, Segesta proved too much for her rivals, crossing the wire three lengths ahead of In Our Time, who edged Ag Bullet at the wire.

Segesta's first Grade I score represented Brown's seventh victory in the last nine renewals of Del Mar's season-ending marquee test for turf fillies. Juddmonte, capturing its eighth Matriarch win, last won the mile test in 2022 with Viadera (Bated Breath), who was also trained by Brown.
"She was a bit on her toes,' said Prat. "She was there for every step of the way today, Chad [Brown] thought she might be a Grade I winner."

He continued: "I don't think the pace was crazy, and there were two horses in front, so I came out. She has a tendency of getting by those horses and kind of waiting. So I was trying to keep her up and keep her busy. She gave me a first class trip. She was there every step of the way."

In a Grade I double for dam Antonoe, an elite-level winner in her own right, Segesta is the second at Del Mar that weekend behind her aforementioned half-brother Salamis. After those two, the mare has a juvenile filly named Directive as well as a yearling full-sister to Salamis.