Jockey Ramon Dominguez sweeps two Grade I stakes at Hollywood Park

Jockey Ramon Dominguez deserves a first-class plane ticket back to New York after sweeping Hollywood Park's two Grade I stakes Sunday.

"It's awesome," the 32-year-old native of Venezuela said.

Both winning rides featured come-from-behind finishes. Cocoa Beach rallied in the stretch to overtake pacesetter Precious Kitten to win the $500,000 Matriarch at one mile on the turf. Visit finished third.

Then he maneuvered Court Vision from last in a field of nine to win the $500,000 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/4 miles on the turf. Cowboy Cal took second and Midships third.

Each win was by a margin of three quarters of a length.

A winner on three continents and on a variety of surfaces, the 4-year-old Chilean-bred Cocoa Beach showed she might be the second-best filly in America behind unbeaten Zenyatta by winning for the ninth time in 12 career starts. She covered the mile in 1:35.49 as the 9-5 favorite.

Trained by the Dubai-based Saaed bin Suroor for Godolphin Racing Inc., Cocoa Beach finished second to Zenyatta in her last start, the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic. This time, there was no stopping Cocoa Beach once she unleashed her closing kick.

"When I saw her coming from the corner, the last furlong and one-half, I thought she was going to win," Bin Suroor said. "The jockey had a brilliant ride. He kept her nice and relaxed behind and took her toward the middle. When he asked her, she flew."

Earlier in the day, Zenyatta came out of her Hollywood Park barn to take a bow and parade in front of her fans, and Bin Suroor was happy Zenyatta didn't run.

"Zenyatta is a star," he said. But he indicated Cocoa Beach will stay in the United States and isn't afraid of a possible rematch with Zenyatta next year.

"Why not?" he said. "I think my filly will be stronger."

The Grade I stakes ended three days of six stakes races as part of Hollywood Park's Turf Festival.

Court Vision, the 4-1 second choice in the Hollywood Derby, seems to have found a fondness for the turf.

Trained by Bill Mott, Court Vision won the Grade II Jamaica Handicap on Oct. 4 in his last start on the turf and has recovered nicely after a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

The victory was even more impressive because the race had a slow pace set by Muny, with splits of 25.10, 49.41 and 1:13.40. The final time was 2:01.43.

"Looking back, if I knew they were going that slow, I would have been worried," Dominguez said. "He finished very, very strong the last part."

Dominguez, who arrived Sunday morning and was scheduled to return to New York on Sunday night, said of his day's work, "It's hard to describe."