Nine entered in Santa Monica; Scarlet Strike faces five in
Santa Ysabel
Teddy’s Promise returned from a subpar effort in the Breeders’ Cup Filly &
Mare Sprint to take the Kalookan Queen by 5 1/4 lengths, and will try to emulate
that performance on Saturday when facing eight fellow distaffers in the Grade 2,
$250,000
Santa Monica at Santa Anita.
The seven-furlong sprint is the co-feature with the Grade 3, $100,000
Santa
Ysabel sending three-year-old fillies 1 1/16 miles on a card that sports six
stakes events. The other four — a pair of $300,000 California Breeders’
Champion events, the $100,000
Crystal
Water and the $100,000
Valentine Dancer — are restricted to California-bred or -sired runners.
Teddy’s Promise captured the Grade 1 La Brea in 2011 then returned in last
year’s Santa Monica, when it was a Grade 1, to finish fifth. The Salt Lake mare
has scored in two races since then, taking the Time to Leave following the Santa
Monica and the Kalookan Queen on December 29, and will keep jockey Victor
Espinoza in the irons on Saturday.
Belle of the Hall will be making her first appearance for the Steve Asmussen
shedrow in the Santa Monica, having previously been trained by Tom Albertrani to
three stakes victories. The six-year-old daughter of Graeme Hall rallied for
fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last out, and was also fourth in
the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga. She’ll get a jockey switch to Corey Nakatani
for her second straight appearance at Santa Anita.
Like Teddy’s Promise, Sugarinthemorning ran in last year’s Santa Monica and
will attempt to improve one spot on her neck second in that edition. The Ron
McAnally-trained Candy Ride mare has been unplaced just twice in five starts
since then, and was runner-up in the other three including the Grade 2 A Gleam
Handicap last summer. Sugarinthemorning dueled during the early part of the
California Cup Distaff most recently before fading to seventh on the turf.
Martin Garcia has the return call.
Other Santa Monica contenders include dual stakes victress Kindle, who was
just caught while trying to wire the Grade 2 Monrovia earlier this month, and
the lightly raced four-year-old Distracting, who ran second while making her
stakes bow in the Paseana Handicap and will be reverting in distance here.
The Santa Ysabel will get the stakes action underway at Santa Anita on
Saturday when the six-filly field breaks from the gate. Scarlet Strike has yet
to visit the winner’s circle since taking her maiden at Del Mar going a mile
last September, but the Jerry Hollendorfer pupil has been close.
Just last out, the Smart Strike filly missed by only a nose while making her
turf bow in the Blue Norther, and she also ran second in the Grade 1 Chandelier
on Santa Anita’s dirt. The multi-talented lass has had Joe Talamo aboard ever
since the Chandelier and keeps him in the saddle for this one.
Switch to the Lead is wheeling back off only five days rest, having just run
fourth in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez on Monday. The Patrick Biancone trainee will be
getting blinkers added this time around, and the Songandaprayer miss will retain
the services of Julian Leparoux on the quick turnaround.
Branding, a bay daughter of Street Sense, will be making her stakes bow in
the Santa Ysabel, while the remaining entrants — Escape Act, Fiftyshadesofhay
and Heir Kitty — were part of the blanket finish in the Blue Norther.
The Crystal Water and Valentine Dancer both feature four-year-olds and up on
the turf at Santa Anita, with the former race showcasing the talents of dual
stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile fourth John Scott while the Valentine
Dancer drew Grade 1-placed multiple stakes queen Tiz Flirtatious.
The
colt and gelding division of the California Breeders’ Champion has 11
entered to go a mile on the main track while the
filly division will see 11 line up in the gate.
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