Getaway Car Pulls the Robbery in Del Mar Debut

This column highlights the performances of maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Del Mar

Opening weekend at Del Mar, a promising colt by Curlin  waved "goodbye in a getaway car" to a field of maidens as he sped to a 3 1/4-length victory in a July 20 maiden special weight.

The culprit, named by co-owner Tom Ryan's wife, Katie, in an ode to the popular Taylor Swift song, is the 2-year-old Getaway Car. Contrary to the song's lyric "Nothing good starts in a getaway car" as Swift laments a tumultuous love affair with the wrong man, the song's namesake looked like a burgeoning prospect for his connections following his debut.

J.J. Hernandez needed only to steer the colt in the right direction. Stepping on "go" as soon as the gates opened, Getaway Car never let off on the accelerator, motoring through an opening quarter of :22:36. Clear by two lengths turning for home, he hurtled to the wire in :57.43 for the 5-furlongs, only a second slower than Del Mar's track record.

The aptly named Getaway Car, a son of the stakes-winning 2-year-old Surrender Now, dropped the hammer for $700,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Ryan of SF Bloodstock signed for the colt in conjunction with Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables. He is campaigned by a large partnership comprising SF, Starlight, Madaket, Determined Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Waves Edge Capital, Dianne Bashor, Catherine Donovan, and Robert Masterson. Like many of Ryan's acquisitions, Getaway Car was sent to trainer Bob Baffert's Southern California stable to ready for his racetrack debut.

Getaway Car became the first winner for Surrender Now, a daughter of Morning Line. While the late Morning Line has not enjoyed substantial success as a broodmare sire quite yet (his daughters have produced nine winners and no stakes winners), Surrender Now hails from a rich female family tracing back to 1993 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Glowing Tribute. The mare's weanling colt by Charlatan  was purchased by Campbell Stables for $285,000 at last year's Keeneland November Sale.

GETAWAY CAR ($4.60) put the money in the bag and stole the keys in @DelMarRacing race 2. Everyone was screaming , "Go, go, go!" as he came down the lane under @JJHernandezS19. @BobBaffert conditioned the 2yo colt.

Bet the next: https://t.co/dtS4tRPMfM pic.twitter.com/V8QS8MPRRs

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) July 20, 2024