Switch takes on seven in Santa Monica

After knocking heads last year with some of the country’s most brilliant
distaffers, including Horse of the Year Zenyatta, the John Sadler-conditioned
SWITCH (Quiet American) is poised to further elevate her status by annexing her
second consecutive Grade 1 victory in Sunday’s 54th running of the $250,000

Santa Monica H. at seven furlongs.

Switch started Santa Anita’s winter/spring meeting off with a bang on opening
day, December 26, with a dominant victory in the La Brea S. (G1), which was also
contested at seven furlongs. Joel Rosario will be back aboard the four-year-old
lass, who completed her sophomore season when taking the La Brea by four
lengths.

“She won easy,” Rosario said afterward. “She’s a nice filly. She can run
short, she can run long. Nice horses like that, they can do whatever.”

Prior to the La Brea, Switch ran second to Dubai Majesty in the Breeders’ Cup
Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs on November 5 after coming within a
half-length of upsetting Zenyatta in the Lady’s Secret S. (G1) at Hollywood Park
on October 2. She also captured the Hollywood Oaks (G2) and Torrey Pines S. last
season.

Switch will break from the far outside post and carry high weight of 123
pounds.

The filly’s stiffest opposition on Sunday may be provided by stablemate MONA
DE MOMMA (Speightstown), who was last seen capturing the Humana Distaff S. (G1)
on Derby Day, May 1. The five-year-old mare is riding the crest of two graded
victories, having also triumphed in the Las Flores H. (G3) prior to her Grade 1
score. Rosario, who was in the saddle for both those wins, will be replaced by
Alonso Quinonez in the Santa Monica.

The field includes only two other graded winners, PICA SLEW (Pico Central
[Brz]) and SWEET AUGUST MOON (Malibu Moon).

A four-year-old Florida-bred, Pica Slew will be making her first start for
trainer John Shirreffs after having faded badly as the 7-2 favorite in
Saratoga’s Test S. (G1) on August 7. The bay miss has been training forwardly at
Hollywood Park since joining the care of Shirreffs. Prior to the Test, Pica Slew
captured the Azalea S. (G3) at Calder, where she had also broken her maiden by
10 1/4 lengths while going 5 1/2 furlongs. Joe Talamo has the call.

Reba is Tops will make her third start this month in the Wishing Well (Benoit Photos) Sweet August Moon, conditioned by Brian Koriner, took the A Gleam S. (G2) at Hollywood Park last summer while going seven furlongs, and also shows a win in the 2009 Las Flores. However, she could make little impression on Switch in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint while finishing fifth, 6 1/4 lengths behind that rival. Sweet August Moon will be ridden by Garrett Gomez as she attempts to turn the tables in the Santa Monica. Nine fillies and mares, headed by the hard-hitting REBA IS TOPS (He’s Tops), were entered one race later for the $70,000 Wishing Well S., named for the dam of 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence. The Wishing Well will be contested at about 6 1/2 furlongs over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course. Reba is Tops, who won over the course last week, has taken three of her last four starts, with the exception being a third in the Monrovia S. (G3). The seven-year-old mare, conditioned by Mark Glatt, will have Talamo aboard as she makes her third start of the year.

Among her challengers is French-bred import GIVINE (Fr) (Blackdoun [Fr]), who
will be making her stateside debut for trainer Julio Canani with Rosario set to
ride. The gray four-year-old won five of her eight races in France while placing
in a pair of listed events last season.

Last-out allowance scorers CATCHY TUNE (Bernstein) and HALLELUJAH TRAIL
(Gilded Time) could also threaten for the win.