Stay Hot © Benoit Photo ANTONIO FRESU (Stay Hot, winner) – “He ran his race today. From the outside post, I just wanted to get a good spot early and get him to relax. He...

The fact Adare Manor defended her crown for a second straight year in the G1 Clement Hirsch at Del Mar Saturday came as no surprise, but the manner (no pun intended) in which she did it was not expected.

Adare Manor captured the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for the second year in a row as the highlight of a special afternoon of racing dubbed Oak Tree Day at Del Mar.

I told him Abel Cedillo, with the rail, you have to run away from there. The main thing was the horse relaxed for him.

Big races attract big name horses and today’s G1 Clement Hirsch is no exception. Two marquee horses shipped in for the race, a ‘Win & You’re In’ for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November.

Curlin’s Kaos added blinkers for Friday’s Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar, then broke running and never looked back in capturing the 37th edition of the seven-panel sprint for Cal-bred 3-year-olds.

The La Jolla has drawn a field of six topped by a chestnut colt named Final Boss, who struts his stuff out of the barn of conditioner John Sadler. The son of Triple Crown star American Pharoah is owned by the partnership of Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds and comes into the race off a solid score in Santa Anita’s Cinema Stakes on June 16. That race was run at a mile and one-eighth, so the colt will be cutting back just a tad on Sunday. Leading rider Juan Hernandez has the call.

Clement L. Hirsch OAK TREE DAY AT DEL MAR SATURDAY OFFERING MANY REWARDS Del Mar will host its first Oak Tree Day Saturday with racing’s foremost charitable group involved throughout the racing card. The afternoon’s...

Nick Alexander’s homebred filly Loretta Lynn lay up close for most of the trip, then assumed command at the top of the stretch and went on to a two and a quarter length triumph in the allowance feature at Del Mar.

Adare Manor, one of the top racemares in America, will go postward Saturday as a strong favorite in Del Mar’s 54th edition of the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, a Grade I headliner presented by Oak Tree Racing Association.