Press Releases

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 23, 2013)—Grade I winner Teddy’s Promise heads a nine-horse field in Saturday’s Grade II, $250,000 Santa Monica Stakes for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs, one of six stakes offered on Sunshine Millions Day as part of a 10-race program.

A winner of the Grade I La Brea Stakes in Dec., 2011, Teddy’s Promise comes off a big 5 ¼ length score on a wet fast track as the 3-2 favorite in the Kalookan Queen Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs on Dec. 29—a race that more than anything else, could serve as a confidence builder for the 5-year-old California-bred mare by Salt Lake.

One start prior to the Kalookan Queen, “Teddy” ran eighth, beaten 15 ½ lengths when breaking from the rail in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3.

“She’s come back and done well since the Breeders’ Cup,” said winning trainer Ron Ellis after the Kalookan Queen win. “I felt pretty good about her today…It was very encouraging.”

Owned and bred by Ted and Judy Nichols, Teddy’s Promise drew post four in a nine-horse field for Saturday’s Santa Monica. Given the fact she has an aversion to running inside of other horses, it may be incumbent upon jockey Victor Espinoza to use her from the gate in order to secure an outside position to the far turn.

“When she’s inside, she doesn’t always like it,” said Espinoza following the Kalookan Queen, a race in which she drew post five in a six-horse field.

Teddy’s Promise has an impressive resume, as her overall record is 20-7-2-1, with earnings of $484,981. She is 6-2-0-0 at seven furlongs.

DISTINCTIV PASSION GATE TO WIRE WINNER OF $75,000 SAN PEDRO

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 21, 2013)—The coronation was consummated Saturday evening in South Florida. The stage was thus set for newly anointed 2012 Eclipse Champion Filly Beholder’s 3-year-old debut in Monday’s Grade II, $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs—but despite sunny skies and a game-time temperature of 81 degrees, upstart Renee’s Titan and Tyler Baze rained on the champ’s parade, executing a come-from-behind, three quarter length victory at 20-1, while getting the distance in 1:16.14.

“She just got a little tired, I’d say,” said trainer Richard Mandella regarding Beholder’s performance. “She had a nice trip…I think she just got a little tired.”

Despite the setback, Mandella indicated Beholder would likely be pointed to the Grade I Las Virgenes Stakes at one mile on March 2.

Last at the half mile pole and well off early fractions of 21.14 and 43.67, Renee’s Titan was six lengths behind a six furlong clocking of 1:09.22, but rallied furiously along the rail to get up under Baze, despite the fact he lost his whip in upper stretch.

Renee’s Titan, the fourth choice in the seven-horse field, paid $43.80, $7.80 and $4.20.

“I have a lot of confidence in this filly,” said Baze. “I’ve been working her from the gate in the mornings for Doug (winning trainer, O’Neill) so I knew she would break well…I just sat on her and was as patient as I could be. I didn’t care how far back we were but by the three sixteenths pole, I knew it was time to get going.

A JEALOUS WOMAN, BLANC TAKE SALOON PASSAGE TO WIN MEGAHERTZ

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 19, 2013)—Idle since June 22, and the longest shot in the seven-horse field, Sahara Sky and Joe Talamo made short work of their rivals in winning Saturday’s Grade II, $150,000 Palos Verdes Stakes at Santa Anita, cruising home from off the pace in a rapid 1:07.73 while prevailing by one length over 5-2 second choice Private Zone and Martin Pedroza.

“He ran unbelievable,” said Talamo. “That was actually the closest he’s ever run. I thought he was going to be 10 lengths further back than he was. He broke sharply, he put me right there, and I still had a lot of horse when I called on him.”

As expected, Comma to the Top, with Edwin Maldonado up, and Private Zone engaged early, setting fractions of 21.50, 43.61 and 55.50.

“It was like having a Quarter Horse in there trying to burn me out (referring to Comma to the Top). My horse never could relax, he just kept seeing the other horse. He wanted to go after him and I didn’t want to choke him back, it’s only six furlongs.

“He never stopped, my horse was always running, even when the other horse (Sahara Sky) ran by him, he was still running.”

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Sahara Sky, a 5-year-old Florida-bred horse by Pleasant Tap, paid $45.20, $14.40 and $5.00.

A first-out maiden $20,000 claiming winner on Nov. 26, 2010 at Delta Downs in Louisiana, Sahara’s Sky’s most recent win came with Talamo aboard on May 19, 2012, in a second condition allowance race at Betfair Hollywood Park. The Palos Verdes was his first foray into graded stakes competition.

“We both thought that the two speed horses would hook up and maybe make a good pace for us,” said Hollendorfer in reference to his pre-game consultation with Talamo. “That’s the key to winning a race like this. We had to have a little pace in front of us for that particular kind of horse, so we got lucky today and he came through for us.”

The winner’s share of $90,000 padded Sahara Sky’s bankroll to $236,680 as he improved his record to 13-5-2-4. He’s owned by Hollendorfer and Kim Lloyd’s Sweetwater Stable.

Private Zone, who finished a half-length in front of 5-2 favorite Justin Phillip and Rafael Bejarano, paid $4.40 and $3.00.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Justin Phillip had trained well since running a close fifth in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3, and had a pace scenario that should have been to his liking in the Palos Verdes.

“The pace was good for me and I was four lengths behind from the speed,” said Bejarano. “When he came running in the stretch, he didn’t show me what I expected.”

Justin Phillip paid $2.80 to show and finished 2 ½ lengths clear of Comma to the Top.

CAL-BRED A JEALOUS WOMAN & BLANC PREVAIL IN $75,000 MEGAHERTZ

The lone California-bred in the seven-horse Megahertz Stakes for older fillies and mares at one mile on turf, 7-year-old A Jealous Woman and Brice Blanc rushed inside 9-5 favorite In the Stars and Corey Nakatani midway around the far turn and once again demonstrated her gameness in a resolute stretch run to win by a neck over Irish-bred Byrony and Garrett Gomez, covering the mile in 1:33.09.

“I decided to move when I did and to get inside Corey, because if I went outside of him, I thought he’d float me out,” said Blanc. “On the grass, you have to save ground. When I made the decision, I knew she would quicken for me and keep that steady run going. She’s not one of those fillies that have a quick acceleration but she has a steady, long, fast run.”

On the strength of her strong second-place showing in the Grade II Goldikova Stakes on Nov. 4, the daughter of Muqtarib was sent off as the 2-1 second choice and paid $6.60, $3.80 and $2.80.

Owned by Three Cent Stable and trained by Francis Meza, A Jealous Woman wasn’t originally ticketed to run in the Megahertz.

“She was nominated to the (Grade III) Frankel Stakes (on Dec. 30) but she had something going on in her feet and she couldn’t make it,” said Meza. “So we worked on that and got her ready for this.”

With the winner’s share of $60,600, A Jealous Woman increased her earnings to $443,856 and ran her record to 19-8-3-3.

Byrony, off at 9-1, kept to her task in the lane and bested In the Stars by a head, but could never get fully on terms with the winner. She paid $7.00 and $3.40.

“She ran good,” said Gomez. “I thought when I was covered (able to sit mid-pack to the half mile pole) I would be able to get by them. I could just never get by them.”

In the Stars set the pace to the half mile pole establishing splits of 22.05 and 45.86, while the winner stopped the six furlong timer in 1:09.30 and the seven furlong in 1:20.98.

“I didn’t want to be on the lead and I got the guy next to me (Rafael Bejarano aboard 3-1 shot Lady Ten) smooching,” said the always colorful Nakatani. “I couldn’t get my filly behind a horse so that really just screwed up our whole plan. I was wanting to be three or four lengths back at least, but like I said, the guy next to me’s chirping. At the same time, she wasn’t disgraced running those fractions.”

In the Stars paid $3.00 to show and finished 1 ¾ lengths in front of Hard to Resist and Joe Talamo. Lady Ten was another neck back, finishing fifth.

First post time on Sunday at Santa Anita is 12:30 p.m. The Grade II, $150,000 La Canada Stakes highlights a nine-race program.

PICK SIX CARRYOVER OF $59,161, FRIDAY POOL SHOULD EXCEED $300,000

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 17, 2013)—Eblouissante (pronounced EH-BLUE-EE-SANT), a 4-year-old half sister to the legendary Zenyatta who is also conditioned by John Shirreffs, faced winners for the first time in Thursday’s $58,000 Mojave River Purse at Santa Anita and at odds of 1-2, left little doubt that she has stakes races in her future, winning by 1 ¾ lengths while covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.89.

Like her near-perfect sister, Eblouissante broke slowly in the five-horse Mojave River, but unlike Zenyatta, showed good tactical speed under Corey Nakatani, as she was just 5 lengths off pacesetter Folk Dancer and Julien Leparoux midway around the Club House turn. By the time the field hit the top of the stretch, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernardini had taken Nakatani to a head advantage over over 44-1 shot Pink Blossom and Alonso Quinonez.

“She’s such a big filly,” said Nakatani. “They ran away from her a little, so I just dropped her steady inside. The plan was to see how she handled the dirt today and she handled it better than we thought she would. Obviously, it didn’t bother her. What more can you say, except that I’m ecstatic she’s back and in John’s care. She’s tremendous.”

Trained by Bruce Headley, Pink Blossom made Eblouissante work to the wire and under some urging, Nakatani increased his advantage in the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She sat nicely,” said Shirreffs. “She moved up nicely. She stayed right where Corey wanted her, and at the end picked it up a little more. It was very good.”

An impressive debut winner at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 16, Eblouissante is now a perfect two for two. She paid $3.00, $2.40 and $2.10. With the Mojave River winner’s share of $34,800, she hiked her earnings to $61,800.

Shirreffs indicated that Eblouissante’s next start would be determined in consultation with owner/breeder Eric Kronfeld, who is based in New York.

Pink Blossom, who finished 2 ¼ lengths clear of Folk Dancer, paid $10.80 and $6.40. Folk Dancer returned $4.60 to show.

There is a Pick Six carryover of $59,161 into Friday at Santa Anita and it is expected Friday’s total Pick Six pool will exceed $300,000.

First post time is at 1 p.m. and the Pick Six will cover races three through eight.

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