Odds-on favorite Nooni held sway as the speed of the speed in Saturday’s $147,000 Sorrento (G3) at Del Mar, stamping herself as a leading contender for the Sept. 7 Del Mar Debutante (G1). Too fast for her Bob Baffert stablemate, Casalu, in the early going, the Zedan Racing Stables runner had enough left to hold off Vodka with a Twist late.
Nooni, the $1.8 million sales topper at OBS March, was capping a cross-country stakes double for freshman sire Win Win Win. Earlier in the afternoon at Gulfstream Park, Win N Your In romped by 4 3/4 lengths in the $95,000 Sharp Susan S. to become Win Win Win’s first stakes winner. Nooni upped the ante by making the Ocala Stud stallion a graded stakes sire. Both juvenile fillies went off as the 1-2 favorite in their respective races.
The Sorrento field was reduced to four by the scratch of Wesley Ward’s White Sands, who will run against the boys in Sunday’s Best Pal (G3). Although White Sands might have contributed to the Sorrento’s pace, she was drawn on the outside. Nooni blasted straight from the rail and never relinquished her advantage, suggesting that she could have retained the tactical upper hand even if White Sands had participated.
Moreover, Casalu had at least as strong a claim to hook up with Nooni early, but she couldn’t go the pace. Under leading rider Juan Hernandez, Nooni put on an exhibition of speed through fractions of :21.87 and :44.90. Casalu chased in second until turning for home, when she tired and lost position.
Vodka with a Twist, the 2.10-1 second choice, rallied as though to make a race of it at the top of the lane. As the winner of the Debutante S. at Churchill Downs last out, the Phil D’Amato pupil brought the most experience to bear.
But Nooni could not be caught. In control throughout, the favorite maintained a comfortable 1 1/2-length margin while completing six furlongs in 1:10.41. Vodka with a Twist drew 3 1/4 lengths clear of Casalu, and Night Beacon trailed.
“When you’re on the inside like that, you have to go,” Baffert said after winning his eighth Sorrento. “I was hoping they (Nooni and Casalu) wouldn’t be battling each other. They went fast early, but I like the way Nooni kept on going. I haven’t really trained her that hard, but she’s just got real class.”
Hernandez is already thinking about what the future may hold for Nooni.
“She was really comfortable,” the winning rider said. “She was really quick out of the gate. I had to push her a little at the end, but we did it.
“I asked her to run around the quarter pole, and she switched leads and picked it up really well. You know, she gave me another good breath, and she took another good step. It’s only her second race, but she looks really good so far. Can’t wait to see how she improves.”
Nooni is now 2-for-2 with earnings of $122,400. The Florida-bred also wired her June 13 debut at Santa Anita, where she ran off by 9 1/2 lengths.
Like Princess Noor, a past star juvenile filly for the same connections, Nooni is named in honor of owner Amr Zedan’s wife. Nooni is his wife’s nickname. If the parallel holds, the equine Nooni will follow in Princess Noor’s hoofsteps by winning the Del Mar Debutante and Chandelier (G2).
Another point in common is that Princess Noor was herself a sales-topping purchase as a two-year-old, commanding $1.35 million at the OBS Spring Sale in 2020. Also like Nooni, Princess Noor was by a first-crop stallion. Princess Noor was an early signal for her sire, Not This Time, who now stands for $150,000. The Ocala Stud team will hope that Nooni serves as a similar prognosticator for Win Win Win.
Bred by Ocala Stud in partnership with farm principals Joseph M. O’Farrell III, David O’Farrell, et al., Nooni is out of the Union Rags mare Unanimity. This is the family of current Holy Bull (G3) winner Hades, who runs in Sunday’s Petramalo Mile on Arlington Million Day at Colonial Downs.
Nooni’s third dam is 1995 Alabama (G1) heroine Pretty Discreet, who produced Grade 1 scorers Discreet Cat and Discreetly Mine. Pretty Discreet also factors as the granddam of Grade 1-winning millionaire Awesome Maria.
