Ethnic Dance wires second division of Del Mar Derby

Ethnic Dance captured his stakes debut in the second division of the Del Mar Derby (Benoit Photos)

Craig Stables and Michael Bello’s Ethnic Dance lulled his rivals to sleep in
Sunday’s second division of the Grade 2, $251,250
Del Mar Derby, leaving himself
plenty in the tank to hold off numerous runs for the 1 1/4-length victory with
jockey Edwin Maldonado aboard.

“(Trainer) John (Sadler) said ‘You’re going to be either first or second,’ and that’s just
how it worked out,” Maldonado said. “I knew the other speed was the 6 horse (Olympic Blue), and
when he didn’t go for the front, I took advantage of it.

“I knew I was going slow
out there and I was loving it. When we hit the half-mile pole, I knew I was on
the horse to beat. Everytime one of them would inch up to him, he’d let out a
notch; all on his own. He’s a nice horse and he’s very game.”

Sent off the near 6-1 fourth choice Ethnic Dance paid $13.80 to win.

“The fractions looked
favorable,” Sadle remarked. “It didn’t look like there was a lot of speed when I was handicapping
the race, so I told Edwin I would be very happy if he was out in
front or sitting second on a slow pace. He rode a good race. He really kept him
relaxed and this is an improving horse.”

Ethnic Dance followed in the hoofsteps of his older half-brother Twirling Candy, who scored in the 2010 Del Mar Derby (Benoit Photos)

“My horse clipped
the heels of the winner coming by the gap (in the stretch),” said Corey
Nakatani, who had piloting duties aboard Den’s Legacy. “He bobbled and
changed leads on me. But it wasn’t going to make that much difference. He ran
well.”

It was another half-length back to General Election, who in turn had that
same margin to spare over Dorsett. Next under the wire were Dry Summer, Olympic
Blue, Play It Loud and 9-2 favorite Dice Flavor. Examen and No Jet Lag didn’t
draw in from the also-eligible list.

“He’s a problem child,” stated Dice Flavor’s rider, Garrett Gomez.
“I couldn’t get him in. He was throwing his head and being all rank on me. His
people know it; they work with him. He’ll get it figured out one of these days.”

Ethnic Dance took six tries to break his maiden, finally getting the job done
on July 14 in his second try on turf at Hollywood Park. His first foray on the
sod one race earlier resulted in a nose second, but that initial win saw the
Tribal Rule colt post a 6 3/4-length wire score. The dark bay recorded a 1
3/4-length victory when trying 8 1/2 furlongs last out over Del Mar’s green, and
now boasts a 3-2-0 mark from eight starts and $249,850 in career earnings.