La Tia en route to Woodbine for Canadian

La Tia figures to play catch-me-if-you-can (Four Footed Fotos) The reigning queen of Arlington grass racing, Illinois-bred La Tia, is on her way to Canada to take on a salty group of older turf mares in Sunday’s Grade 2 Canadian Stakes at Woodbine for owner Hernandez Racing Club and trainer Armando De La Cerda.  “She’s going great. She’s leaves for Canada tonight (Friday). She’s very happy and her work the other day was perfect,” an excited De La Cerda said. The six-time winning daughter of City Place recently worked five furlongs over the Arlington Polytrack in a solid 1:00 2/5, the eighth-fastest of 36 at the distance.  The Canadian drew a strong field of nine with the speedy La Tia drawing the outside post in the one-turn nine-furlong event under Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.  “She’s really likes the mile and an eighth and she’s won a couple races around one turn when she was on the Arlington Polytrack. She can do it,” De La Cerda explained. “Kent is going to ride her again and knows the filly very well, now.”

Desormeaux was on La Tia for the first time last out in the Beverly D.
Stakes, where the filly led until the last eighth of a mile. Upon being passed
by eventual runaway winner Dank, the filly gritted her teeth and finished fifth
in a three-horse photo for third with multiple Grade 1 winner Marketing Mix and
the highly-regarded Modesty Handicap winner Ausus. 

La Tia’s main competition will come from Solid Appeal, a multiple Canadian
stakes winner who tracked and could never pass La Tia in the Beverly D. and
European import Ladys First, who finished ahead of Dank in a race at Royal Ascot
in June. 

This will be La Tia’s second trip to Canada. Last year, in an eventful
running of the $150,000 La Lorgnette Stakes, she banged the rail in midstretch
and still recovered to win the race. 

“When La Tia was with (previous trainer) Brian Williamson last year, I worked
for him and took her to Canada,” De La Cerda said. “We’ll do it just like last
year. We’ll leave tonight and tomorrow we’ll get a feel for the track and then
run on Sunday.

“She’s a great shipper. She sleeps all the time — she’ll sleep in the van
ride there and will save her energy,” De La Cerda continued. “I’m not worried
about the ground too much, either. I know she can handle the soft — she has won
on it. On the firm turf, like in the Beverly D., she may have lost but she ran
against some very good fillies in a Grade 1.”

De La Cerda is pumped to once again take his local star filly up to Canada to
represent Illinois racing. 

“It looks like she fits in this field. The one I know (Solid Appeal) in there
who is very good and has some speed finished behind us in the Beverly D., and I
think we can beat her.”

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