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Grand Slam Smile Swings For A 9th Stakes Win In The Irish O’Brien Stakes For California-Bred Fillies And Mares Going About 6 ½ Furlongs On The Hillside Turf Course Saturday At Santa Anita

3/17/2026

GRAND SLAM SMILE SWINGS FOR A 9th STAKES WIN IN THE IRISH O’BRIEN STAKES FOR CALIFORNIA-BRED FILLIES AND MARES GOING ABOUT 6 ½ FURLONGS ON THE HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (March 17, 2026)— Top California-bred mare Grand Slam Smile looms as a heavy favorite Saturday when she goes for a ninth stakes win in the $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes for statebred fillies and mares going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.

Trained by Sean McCarthy, Grand Slam Smile is back in with statebreds after testing the GII Buena Vista on Feb. 28 at Santa Anita. In the Buena Vista going one mile on turf, Grand Slam Smile set the pace and led into the stretch before being overtaken late to finish third. It was the second graded-stakes placing for the ultra-consistent 5-year-old Smiling Tiger mare. Owned and bred by Larry D. Williams and Marianne Williams, Grand Slam Smile is 18: 10-6-2 with $852,120 in earnings. Returning to Santa Anita to ride Grand Slam Smile on Saturday is William Antongeorgi III, who earlier this year relocated to Turfway Park.

Prior to the Buena Vista try, Grand Slam Smile won the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint for statebreds on the hillside turf course in January. The respective second- and third-place finisher that day, Take Another Card and Prancingthruparis, both get another crack at Grand Slam Smile in the Irish O’Brien.

Take Another Card is trained by Simon Callaghan for owner-breeder Reddam Racing. In the Sunshine Millions turf sprint, Take Another Card finished 1 ½ lengths back of Grand Slam Smile. She then failed to fire last month when finishing fifth as the favorite in a first-level allowance for open company on the hillside course on Feb. 15. Take Another Card, a 4-year-old I’ll Have Another filly, will be ridden Saturday by Antonio Fresu for the first time.

Prancingthruparis won last year’s Irish O’Brien, but has finished behind Grand Slam Smile in all three of her most recent outings including the Sunshine Millions when beaten by 2 ¼ lengths. A 5-year-old mare by Sir Prancelot, Prancingthruparis is trained by Peter Eurton and owned by Ciaglia Racing, SAF Racing and Harry A. Crusberg. She’ll have Juan Hernandez aboard.

THE IRISH O’BRIEN STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

  1. Grand Slam Smile—William Antongeorgi III—124

  2. Moment’s Pleasure—Emisael Jaramillo—124

  3. Young Love—Ricky Gonzalez—122

  4. Take Another Card—Antonio Fresu—124

  5. Prancingthruparis—Juan Hernandez—124

  6. Miss Practical—Hector Berrios—120

First post Saturday is 1 p.m. PT.