Senator Ken Maddy

Oak Tree at Santa Anita is set to get their 31-day meet started Wednesday
with
an opening-day card featuring the $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy H. (G3). A field of 12
is scheduled to go
forward in the about 6 1/2-furlong turf event with two also-eligibles waiting at the
ready.

Las Cienegas H. (G3) winner ELUSIVE DIVA (Elusive Quality) will be making her
first start since a disappointing sixth in the Green Flash H. at Del Mar. The
four-year-old filly has two starts over the Santa Anita grass, both at the Ken
Maddy distance, and proved victorious in both — first in the Wishing Well
H. and later in the Las Cienegas over Winendynme (Dynaformer), who came back to
win the Tranquility Lake S. in her next start. Trained by Mark Glatt, Elusive
Diva has been putting in solid workouts lately and could turn in an impressive
performance under jockey Patrick Valenzuela.

SHINING ENERGY (Rahy) is being shortened after her second consecutive
off-the-board finish over a mile. The three-year-old chestnut comes off a
ninth-place finish in the nine-furlong Del Mar Oaks (G1). The Julio Canani
trainee hit the wire 5 1/2 lengths back after weakening in the stretch of that
one. Shining Energy has good late speed, earnings a 109 BRIS Late Pace rating when
annexing the San Clemente H. (G2) two back and is two-for-three over the
Arcadia, California, sod. Corey Nakatani has the call.

VALENTINE DANCER (In Excess [Ire]), who could opt for Sunday’s Lady’s Secret
Breeders’ Cup H. (G2), has not missed the board since finishing sixth in
the Fran’s Valentine S. in April of 2004. Since then, the five-year-old Craig
Lewis trainee has strung together an excellent run, including a win in this
year’s Fran’s Valentine and placings in the A Gleam H. (G2), Clement L. Hirsch
H. (G2) and Winstar Distaff H.
(G3). She has performed well on both surfaces and should
finish with the leaders under regular jockey John Court.

PICKLE (GB) (Piccolo) will be seeking her third Grade 3 win stateside as she
comes off a solid second in the Hillsborough H. at Bay Meadows. This will be the
four-year-old’s first start over the Santa Anita course, but she has managed to
make good work at other California courses and shouldn’t have much of a
problem here. Look for her to run at the top of the pack under jockey Rene
Douglas.

VERY VEGAS (Storm Boot) should be found on the early lead, but could find
herself in a speed duel with BELLA BANISSA (Good and Tough). Despite this, she
could still hit the bottom of the gimmicks for trainer Marcelo Polanco.

TARA’S TOUCH (SAf) (Tara’s Halls) exits a victory in the Royal North H. (Can-G3).
This win came right on the heels of a disappointing 10th-place outing in the Winstar Distaff H. Tara’s Touch has fared well at the shorter distances
and could threaten.

ABOUNDING TRUTH (Proudest Romeo) only has one turf start under her belt, a
second in the Daisycutter H. two back. She rallied in the stretch after quick
opening fractions and could make up ground in the end if a speed duel
materializes in the opening stages of this one. CHASETHEGOLD (Touch Gold) has
not scored a victory since defeating allowance company by a head in June of last
year. She
has produced mixed results since then, finishing fourth to Elusive Diva in the
Las Cienegas, and loses Nakatani, who will be aboard Shining Energy.

Bella Banissa finished second in her career debut, the Nursery S., and again in her next outing, the Landaluce S. (G3). She has
only placed off the board once in seven starts but could be hindered in the end
by Very Vegas’ early speed.

PUXA SACO (Dehere) has been unlucky in her past two outings, finishing eighth
in the A Gleam and sixth in the Rancho Bernardo H. (G3), and will be making her
first start on the turf since January. We will go against. THE YELLOW SHEET
(Benchmark) will be taking a step up here, making her first start in the graded
waters, and the competition might be a little much for her. NAVAJA (NZ) (Daggers
Drawn) is unplaced in four starts over the Santa Anita turf and has not produced
the results needed to compete here.

The two also eligibles, ROYAL WAVE (Royal Academy) and AHURIRI HIKAWAI (NZ)
(Exploding Prospect), will most likely be outclassed if they draw in to this one.