Gold Rush V

Benoit Photo
$200,000 Melair Stakes
YEARLY REPORT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Apr. 24, 2004) – Graded stakes winner Yearly Report returned from a three-month layoff to overwhelm the field and win Saturday’s $200,000 Melair Stakes presented by Rancho San Miguel for 3-year-old California-bred fillies by four lengths over stable-mate Western Hemisphere in stakes-record time.

Yearly Report is by General Meeting, out of the Half a Year mare Fiscal Year, was bred by John and Betty Mabee and is owned by Golden Eagle Farm. She ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.70, more than a full second faster than Bartok’s Blithe’s time set last year.

“We were expecting something like this,” said Tim Yakteen, assistant to winning trainer Bob Baffert. “She just showed her class. I mean, this is the second stakes record she broke. We’re going to see how she came out of the race, then get her ready for the next one.”

The win was Yearly Report’s third in four career starts and follows the Grade II Santa Ynez Stakes victory over graded winner House of Fortune. Her career earnings now are $258,400.

Yearly Report was being considered for the Kentucky Oaks, but tied up earlier this month. Her only loss was a second to eventual Grade I winner Silent Sighs in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes as a 2-year-old.

Yearly Report, a $95,000 buyback at Barretts last year, was ridden by Corey Nakatani and trained by Baffert, winning his record fifth Gold Rush race and second Melair. Western Hemisphere, also by General Meeting, was second and Nicole and Ben was third.

“I worked her in the morning the other day to get familiar with her and she was so relaxed,” said Nakatani. “I just breezed her. The work didn’t take anything out of her and it was really fast. Sol I just rode her with confidence today, thinking she was so much the best in here. I was in a stalking position coming around the turn. I let her move up at the half-mile pole and she did everything I asked her to do. She’s a special horse.”

The show pool in the race was $1,002,920, with $972,590 bet on the 1-9 entry, creating a minus pool of $180,008.01.

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