Hollywood Derby

With a deft ride from jockey Javier Castellano, Klaravich Stables’ and  William Lawrence's Annals of Time turned the tables on Chad Brown stablemates Beach Patrol and Camelot Kitten to win the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Saturday at Del Mar.

After running third behind those two stablemates last time out in the in the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 8, the son of Temple City fired his best shot in the 1 1/8-mile Hollywood Derby.

Racing in 10th on the backstretch, Castellano saved ground through the final turn, angled out at the top of the lane, split horses and outkicked Beach Patrol to the finish line to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

Frank Conversation, last-out winner of the Grade 2 Twilight Derby, completed the trifecta.

“I tried to save ground as much as I could [from post position 11],” Castellano said. “I was covered up most of the way. ... He was powerful. When I asked him in the stretch he put in a powerful kick — very strong, very impressive — and he galloped out strong and straight.”

Blackjackcat sped to the front early and set quarter-mile fractions of :23.83, :47.81 and 1:12.03 through three-quarters of a mile, and he still held a head advantage with an eighth of a mile to run but faded to sixth at the wire.

Annals of Time finished the race in 1:47.73 on firm turf. It was his first graded stakes win, following the Hill Prince third, a second in an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course in September and a debut victory at Aqueduct in November 2015.

“He's lightly raced [and] he had some minor issues to deal with before we could get him started, so he was the fresher one of the three," said Brown’s assistant, Cherie DeVaux. “Beach Patrol and Camelot Kitten have had really hard campaigns this year.”

Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes winner Beach Patrol, ridden by Florent Geroux, finished a half-length ahead of Frank Conversation. Hayabusa One closed rapidly from 11th to come in fourth. Two-time Del Mar graded stakes winner Free Rose was fifth.

“I had a very good trip — right where I wanted to be," said Geroux, who tracked the early leaders in fourth aboard Beach Patrol and briefly held a lead in late stretch before being overcome by Annals of Time. “My horse ran well, but the winner was best. He's a nice horse.”

Bred in Kentucky by Monticule out of the Distant View mare Lemon Haze, Annals of Time now has $289,000 in earnings from his four starts. The Hollywood Derby was the first Del Mar stakes win for both Brown and Castellano.