DEL MAR — Like many eastern trainers, George Weaver shipped Sacred Wish to Del Mar a month ago to participate in the Breeders’ Cup weekend.

Unlike other trainers, however, Weaver kept the 4-year-old daughter of Not This Time at the seaside ovalto train after a third-place finish in the Goldikova Stakes on Nov. 2 with an eye on winning the season-ending Turf Festival.

Weaver’s strategy was rewarded Sunday, when Sacred Wish and jockey John Velazquez out-finished favorites Gina Romantica and Ag Bullet in the stretch to win the Grade I Matriarch Stakes on the final day of Del Mar’s fall meeting.

It was the second win of the day for Velazquez and also the second of the day for an offspring of Not This Time.

Velazquez also won the Grade III Cecil B. DeMille Stakes in a dominant wire-to-wire romp with Clock Tower, a 2-year-old gelded son of Not This Time.

In Sunday’s third Turf Festival stakes, defending champion Unconquerable Keen (Umberto Rispoli) successfully chased down favorite Sorrento Sky deep in the stretch to give trainer Phil D’Amato a 1-2 finish in the $100,000 Stormy Liberal Stakes.

Also, Juan Hernandez won five races on favorites Sunday to win his fifth straight Del Mar jockey title dating back to the fall of 2021. Hernandez scored with Style Cat ($5.60 in the first), Chasing Kat ($3.40 in the second), Daddy Justify ($3 in the fourth), Fort Bragg ($4.20 in the eighth) and Charlie’s to Blame ($6.40 in the finale) to give him 21 wins for the meeting to 15 for Rispoli. Hernandez had 14 wins over the final five dates.

Sacred Wish ($12.80) was never farther back than third in the field of 11 in the DeMille. But Ag Bullet (Rispoli) led from the start until falling to third deep in the stretch and favorite Gina Romantica (Jose Ortiz) rallied late to finish second, falling a neck short of giving trainer Chad Brown a fifth straight Matriarch title with a horse shipped in from the east.

“I was hoping Sacred Wish would break well and she did,” said Velazquez. “It worked out perfect. Ag Bullet in the lead took me to where I thought. She pulled out and had a nice kick down the lane.”

“Ag Bullet just set it up perfect for Sacred Wish,” said Blair Golen, Brown’s assistant trainer on site. “I was happy Velazquez was able to come out and ride her. He gets along good with her and had ridden her so well in the past.”

In the Stormy Liberal, a five-furlong sprint for older horses, Unconquerable Keen (13.60) was fifth in the stretch before rallying under jockey Umberto Rispoli to finish a half length ahead of Sorrento Sky (Kazushi Kimura).

“I got in a little bit of a squeeze, but I knew the pace was going to be crazy fast,” said Rispoli, who had been working with Unconquerable Keen since a disappointing summer meeting at Del Mar.

“I’ve got to give Umberto credit for working with Unconquerable Keen and getting him to settle and finish again,” said D’Amato.

“It worked out pretty well,” said Rispoli. “He is the kind of horse that if you let him run too much, he will be empty at the end. So, the fact that the pace was fast at the beginning helped me a lot. I was traveling behind the right horses and at the top of the stretch I had the right momentum. He really finished strong.”

Speaking of pace, Clock Tower ($3.80) broke first and was never headed in the one-mile $100,000 De Mille for 2-year-olds. Velazquez rode him to a 2½-length win over second-favorite Scipio (Flavien Prat).

Clock Tower, who was overtaken near the finish of his most recent start at Keeneland, was projected as the speed horse in the field of seven and quickly put clean air between him and the competition.

“Today when I got away with that second quarter (25.13 seconds), I knew they were going to have a tough time catching us,” said Velazquez. “When I asked him, he went. He’s turning into a good one. He’s grown up. He’s matured.”

“Beautiful, perfect trip,” said Blake Heap, the assistant on site for trainer Wesley Ward. “That’s kind of what we were hoping for. Velazquez is a good speed rider. He knows the pace.”

Glatt triumphs

Mark Glatt claimed his first Del Mar training title with 14 wins. Glatt fielded only 32 starters during the meeting with seven second-place finishes and five thirds … his horses placing in the money 81% of the time.

“This fall’s been great,” said Glatt. “I don’t think we can keep up this pace. It wouldn’t be human. This is very special. It’s a short meet, but it’s an accomplishment. I haven’t had a terrible amount of runners. But I had horses that fit the right conditions.”

Phil D’Amato, who had won the past three fall training titles – and at least a share of five straight overall – placed second with eight wins.