Smith tops former fiancee Sutherland at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) - Jockey Mike Smith beat his former fiancee Chantal Sutherland in a match race at Del Mar on Sunday that was billed as the ``Battle of the Exes.''

Smith and his favored mount Joker Face took the lead from the gate and beat Sutherland and Parable by 2 1/4 lengths, covering a mile on the main track in 1:36.55.

The 45-year-old Hall of Famer Smith and the 35-year-old veteran rider Sutherland were once engaged during a relationship that was documented on the former Animal Planet show ``Jockeys.''

Smith said he was under serious pressure from his fellow male jockeys to beat Sutherland.

``I've been taking heat for the last three or four days from the boys,'' Smith said. ``Rightly so. I had to win this one. They would never let me live it down if I didn't.''

It was the fifth match race in Del Mar history and the first since jockey Patrick Valenzuela narrowly beat Julie Krone in a 2003 duel dubbed ``Battle of the Sexes.''

``Even though I didn't win, it was fun. It was exciting,'' Sutherland said. ``When we went onto the backside and there was just the two of us, that was really neat. Never had that one before.''

The horses, both 3-year-old maidens, were chosen by the track's racing secretary for comparable ability and were assigned riders by blind draw.

Joker Face, trained by Peter Eurton, paid $3.20 for his first win and earned $18,600.