San Clemente

Lanni or Schiappa's SHINING ENERGY (Rahy) rated patiently far off the pace

through the opening stages of Saturday's $150,000 San Clemente H. (G2), began

picking off rivals on the far turn and then exploded into the stretch, quickly

reaching the front and drawing off for a 1 1/4-length score. Ridden by

Rene Douglas for conditioner Julio Canani, who swept both stakes at the seaside

oval on Saturday, Shining Energy earned her first graded win and traveled eight

furlongs over the firm turf in 1:34 1/5.

Dismissed as the 8-1 choice in the field of 10 three-year-old fillies,

the winner paid $19, $9.40 and $7.80. The early pace -- :23 1/5, :48 1/5 and

1:11 2/5 -- exacted a serious toll on the front runners as the 7-1 Memorette

(Memo [Chi]) and 10-1 Royal Copenhagen (Fr) (Inchinor [GB]) each came flying

late to dead-heat for second. The former returned $4 and $5.40, and Royal

Copenhagen was good for $5.20 and $5.40. The $1 exotics with Memorette totaled

$49.60 (exacta), $307.90 (trifecta) and $1,197.40 for the 10-7-8-2 superfecta that

included 2-1 favorite Louvain (Ire) (Sinndar) on the bottom. The same gimmicks

with Royal Copenhagen were worth $46.90, $339.70 and $1,430.30.

Island Escape (Petionville), She's a Jewel (Successful Appeal),

Thatswhatimean (Belong to Me), Conveyor's Angel (Conveyor), Tivadare (Fr)

(Distant View) and Salsa Brava (Ire) (Almutawakel [GB]) completed the order of

finish following the defections of the also-eligibles Silver Stage (Halo's

Image), Royal Wave (Royal Academy), Silver Wand (Silver Hawk) and Isla Cozzene (Cozzene).

Shining Energy was winless from four starts at two in France but recorded a

runner-up finish in the Prix des Sablonnets in her final juvenile appearance.

She captured her U.S. bow in February over maiden rivals at Santa Anita and

stepped up to win the La Habra S. in her next outing. Unplaced from her next two

outings in graded stakes, the chestnut turned in a much improved performance on

Saturday and now owns a 9-3-2-1 career line with $207,842 in earnings. Bred in

Kentucky by Norman Cheeng and Tony Feng, Shining Energy is out of the Grade

3-winning Miss Universal (Ire) (Lycius) and has an unraced two-year-old

half-sister named Miss Entertainment (Dynaformer) and 2005 half-brother by

Silver Charm.

The winner is likely headed to the Del Mar Oaks (G1) on August 20.