Awesome Baby heads eight-filly field in Santa Ysabel

Awesome Baby will try stretching out to 8 1/2 furlongs once again in the Santa Ysabel (Benoit Photos)

Awesome Baby, a gate-to-wire winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez going 6 1/2 furlongs on January 4, heads a field of eight
three-year-old
fillies entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000
Santa Ysabel at 1 1/16 miles Saturday
at Santa Anita.

A Kentucky-bred filly by Awesome Again, Awesome Baby was distanced by 23
lengths in her only other try at two turns in the Grade 1 Chandelier going 8 1/2
furlongs on September 28. She showed
the way after the first half-mile but caved readily to be fifth on the wire in
that seven-horse field.

Conditioned by Bob Baffert, Awesome Baby has trained well out of her Santa Ynez win, with seven works to her
credit since. Her most recent move came on Monday when the dark bay miss drilled a half-mile
in :48 3/5 over Santa Anita’s fast main track.

Awesome Baby had Martin Garcia aboard for her initial three starts, but Mike Smith
was in the saddle for the Santa Ynez and retains the mount on Saturday.

Garcia hasn’t been left out in the cold on Saturday. The top jock will be in
the irons of another Baffert trainee in Be Proud, who was a gate-to-wire winner of the 1 1/16-mile California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields
on February 8 under Russell Baze.

Swiss Lake Yodeler is one of two Hollendorfer entrants in the Santa Ysabel (Benoit Photos)

A two-time stakes winner versus statebreds, Hollendorfer’s
Swiss Lake Yodeler was well beaten as the 3-1 favorite in the one-mile Cal
Cup Oaks over Santa Anita’s turf on January 25. The California-bred filly by Swiss Yodeler was an emphatic 2
1/4-length winner of the Golden State Juvenile Fillies going eight furlongs at Santa Anita
last November and should appreciate the return to dirt Saturday.

Gary Stevens has the call on Artemis while Rafael Bejarano rides Swiss Lake
Yodeler.

Anniversary Kitty got the best of the latter filly when a close second from far off the pace in the Cal Cup Oaks
most recently. The Craig Dollase pupil would benefit from a
fast pace on Saturday, as she did when taking her maiden debut in late December
at Hollywood Park. Joe Talamo has piloting duties on the Tribal Rule filly.

Tiz Kissable was an easy four-length, first-out maiden scorer in December at
Golden Gate Fields, and will be looking to turn the tables on Be Proud after
finishing third to that one in the California Oaks in just her second start last
month. The Tim McCanna trainee rallied late that day to just miss second by a
head, and gets the services of jockey Mario Gutierrez for the first time on
Saturday.