In one of the most stunning upsets of recent years, Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate, the 1-20 favorite and the richest Thoroughbred in North American racing history, struggled home a badly beaten fourth as Accelerate won the featured $300,000 TVG San Diego Handicap Saturday at Del Mar.

Accelerate, piloted by Victor Espinoza, sped to the front shortly after the break and never was seriously threatened as he cruised to an eight and one-half length victory while Arrogate, under regular rider Mike Smith, labored home fifteen and one-quarter lengths behind the winner.

Accelerate was second choice in the five-horse field, going postward at 7-1. Runner-up Donworth was sent off at 24-1, while third place Cat Burglar was an 18-1 outsider. As a result, the payoffs were Accelerate returned $17.60 to win, $32.60 to place and $22 to show. Donworth paid $119.80 to place and $67.40 to show, breaking the payoff records of $101.60 and $40.20 set by Cipria in 1955. Cat Burglar, a stablemate of Arrogate from the barn of Bob Baffert, paid $38.20 to show.

Accelerate, a four-year-old son of Lookin at Lucky owned by Hronis Racing and trained by John Sadler, scored his fourth win in 12 starts and first money of $180,000 increased his lifetime bankroll to $607,480. Final time for the mile and one-sixteenth was 1:42.15. Ironically, in Arrogate’s career debut,April 17 of 2016, at Los Alamitos Race Course, Accelerate beat Arrogate by a neck as he was second in a maiden race won by Westbrook.

Arrogate dropped back to last shortly after the start and trailed the field into the far turn where he began to advance. However, his rally was brief as he flattened out badly in the stretch.

Accelerate carried 117 pounds, nine pounds less than Arrogate, winner of seven races consecutively and more than $17 million, including victories in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Dubai World Cup, his most recent outing March 25 at Meydan in the United Arab Emirates. 

Del Mar