Spirit of Xian wires Providencia at 16-1

Spirit of Xian upset the Providencia (Benoit Photos)

Ben Keswick’s Spirit of Xian (Kodiac) had never raced beyond a sprint, and
her only prior attempt to set the early pace resulted in a fourth in a listed
stakes at Naas last June. But none of that mattered in Saturday’s $151,750

Providencia (G3) at Santa Anita, where the 16-1 shot successfully carried
her speed over 1 1/8 miles to spring a wire-to-wire upset.

Well handled by Joe Talamo, the Richard Mandella filly got away with
comfortable fractions of :23 2/5, :47 and 1:11 2/5 on the firm turf. Spirit of
Xian spurted clear in the stretch, reaching the mile mark in 1:35 4/5, and then
held on for dear life. Spanish Queen (Tribal Rule) and 8-5 favorite Entrechat
(Giant’s Causeway) were bearing down late, but the pacesetter was game all the
way to the line. Spirit of Xian finished in 1:48 and sparked a $35.60 win mutuel.

“You could see, she meant to be on the lead, and Joe did a great job,”
Mandella said. “I was lacking confidence, and I told Joe, ‘If you’re not sure
she can get the last quarter, get off and run yourself.’ He didn’t have to.”

“Coming off that sprint race in her last out, she really showed a lot of
speed the whole way today,” Talamo said. “When she got to the front, she relaxed
nicely and all the credit has to go to Mr. Mandella. You don’t see too many
fillies going from a 6 1/2 (furlong) race to winning a mile and eighth turf race
in their next out, so really all the credit goes to him. He gave me enough horse
to work with today.”

Spanish Queen missed by a neck, while Entrechat was another half-length back
in third. Prize Exhibit (Showcasing) rallied from last, met with traffic trouble
along the way, and did well to grab fourth in the 12-filly field.