Eight days ago, Mr. Disrespectful, a 6-year-old gelding, ran fifth in a field of six in a sprint race at Santa Anita.

Saturday, the 36-1 longshot led wire-to-wire under jockey Tiago Pereira to win the seven-furlong, $100,000 The Chosen Vron Stakes at Del Mar by three-quarters of a length over Lovesick Blues.

Before the race, trainer Craig Dollase instructed Pereira to keep Mr. Disrespectful “near the lead.”

“But he wanted to go,” Pereira said of the son of Smiling Tiger. “He took the lead all on his own. I wasn’t asking him. You saw it today; he’s a nice horse. This was his own work.”

“The best thing you can do is not fight him,” Dollase said of Mr. Disrespectful, who led by four lengths in the stretch. “We wanted to be close and Tiago took the initiative and went on with him. Nobody else wanted the lead. He opened up big fractions and won nicely.

“I knew he was fit. I told (owner) Tony (Mojarro) before the race that I expected him to win.”

Few others did. Mr. Disrespectful was the longest shot in the field of seven. Favorite and former champion Big City Lights finished fourth. Defending champion and second-favorite Man O Rose was fifth. Mr. Disrespectful paid $74.60.

Betty Grable Stakes on Sunday

Cal-Bred weekend concludes Sunday with the Betty Grable Stakes, a seven-furlong test for fillies and mares on the main track.

And the nine-horse field has another fan favorite in defending race champion and recent millionaire Grand Slam Smile.

Trained by Sean McCarthy, the 5-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger has 13 career wins and recently eclipsed the $1 million mark in career earnings by winning the $100,000 California Distaff on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.

The two-time Cal-bred champion has finished in the money in 22 of her 24 career starts.

Grand Slam Smile has spent most of 2026 racing on the turf and returns to the dirt to defend her Betty Grable title. But she will be breaking from the inside post.

McCarthy said Grand Slam Smile is maturing with age and is expected to keep racing as a 6-year-old.

“She’s a little bit older now and she’s settling down a little bit more,” McCarthy states. “By the same token, it doesn’t take much to light that candle. You pull the trigger on her, and she’ll jump. Everything is fine with her, and as long as she’s in good shape and wants to keep doing it, we’ll continue with a 2027 campaign.”

Although Grand Slam Smile, with Juan Hernandez up, is the morning-line even-money favorite Sunday, she will have two notable veteran Cal-Bred opponents in the Grable in Fibonaccis Ride and She’s No Quant.

Fibonaccis Ride (Victor Espinooza) defeated Grand Slam Smile when she won last summer’s $150,000 Solana Beach at Del Mar. She’s No Quant (Hector Berrios) won the $150,000 Fleet Treat Stakes during Del Mar’s summer meeting.

Notable

Hernandez had three winners Saturday — Muscled ($11.80) in the first, Duntov ($3.80) in the fourth and Sterling Sea ($13.60) in the sixth.

• Leonard Powell, trainer of Green Carrera, said the winner of Friday’s Let It Ride Stakes could return to take on the boys again in the Grade I Hollywood Derby on Del Mar’s closing weekend.