Krone Rides 16-1 Shot to Win

On the day Hollywood Park gave out Julie Krone bobblehead dolls, the jockey continued her hot streak with a front-running, 16-1 upset aboard Sweet Return in the $600,000 Hollywood Derby.

Sweet Return, who had never set the pace in his life, crawled through extremely slow fractions (25.35, 51.04 and 1:17.49 for six furlongs) and held off 9-2 shot Fairly Ransom to win by half a length. The final time for the 1 1/4 miles on turf was 2:04.27. It was the fourth stakes win in four days at Hollywood Park for Krone, who spent part of her morning autographing the dolls for hundreds of fans.

Owned by John Brunetti’s Red Oak Stable and trained by Ron McAnally (who also saddled the runner-up), Sweet Return, a 3-year-old, English-bred son of Elmaamul, won for the third time in 14 starts. His biggest previous win had come in a division of the Oceanside Stakes this summer at Del Mar.

“I’m just grateful and still absorbing it,” Krone said of winning half of the six races in the three-day Autumn Turf Festival after beginning her hot streak with a win on Watchem Smokey in the Vernon O. Underwood Stakes on Thanksgiving. “It’s been a pretty good weekend and pretty exciting.

“There’s been a lot of sentimental value too in winning races for Ron and Richard Mandella [the trainer of Redattore, who won the Citation Handicap on Saturday with Krone]. They’ve both been very instrumental in my career.”

Kicken Kris, the 3-1 favorite in a field reduced to 13 when Sigint was scratched earlier in the day, finished third, half a length behind Fairly Ransom and a head in front of 5-1 fourth choice Silver Tree.

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Five of the first 23 winners of the $500,000 Matriarch went on to earn Eclipse Awards as the champion female turf horse.

Might Heat Haze, who rallied from last in a field of 14 to win the Grade I on Sunday at Hollywood Park, become the sixth?

The 4-year-old Green Desert filly, who is owned and was bred by Juddmonte Farms, has the credentials.

The neck decision in 1:34.43 as the 4-1 second choice over 5-1 shot Musical Chimes was Heat Haze’s fourth graded stakes win in seven starts in 2003. The Matriarch was her second in a Grade I, the other coming in the Beverly D. on Aug. 16 at Arlington Park. She also placed in two other Grade I events, running second in the Diana Handicap at Saratoga on July 26 and third in the Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park on Sept. 27. Trainer Bobby Frankel, who picked up his fifth Matriarch victory, says Heat Haze is a worthy candidate.

“This could swing it in her favor,” Frankel said. “It would be nice. She’s been running hard all year long. She deserves it.”

With jockey Jerry Bailey choosing to ride Etoile Montante, the other Juddmonte-owned filly who ran 11th as the 2-1 favorite, John Velazquez got the mount on Heat Haze and he made no mistakes.

“We had a perfect trip,” Velazquez said. “We had to come from last, but I just wanted to wait and bide my time to find room. “I saw [Musical Chimes] moving well, so I followed her and it worked out perfectly.” Musical Chimes, who looked like a winner early in the stretch, barely saved the place, beating 23-1 shot Dedication by a nose.