Light Won Up Shines Bright In The Sweet Life Stakes For 3-Year-Old Fillies Sprinting About 6 ½ Furlongs On The Hillside Turf Course Saturday At Santa Anita

LIGHT WON UP SHINES BRIGHT IN THE SWEET LIFE STAKES FOR 3-YEAR-OLD FILLIES SPRINTING ABOUT 6 ½ FURLONGS ON THE HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Feb. 7, 2026)—Making her turf debut, and first start since June, Light Won Up rolled to a dominant 2 ¾-length victory in the $100,000 Sweet Life Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.

Light Won Up (6-1), ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Doug O’Neill, was forwardly placed throughout before surging to the front near the eighth pole and then drawing off for the victory in her third overall start. The filly by City of Light won in a time of 1:12.85. Fractions of the race were 22.27, 44.53 and 1:06.89.

Grade III winner Himika (4-1), who was making her turf debut for trainer Bob Baffert, finished second followed by Umbralle (22-1) and Hypergamy (10-1).

Light Won Up is owned by Purple Rein Racing and Mark D. Davis. She won her debut going 4 ½ furlongs last May at Santa Anita and came back to finish sixth in the six-furlong Debutante in June at Churchill Downs before hitting the sidelines. She was purchased for $265,000 auction at last year’s OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training.

Light Won Up paid $14.80, $5.60 and $4.60. Himika, ridden by Juan Hernandez, paid $5.20 and $4.20. Umbralle, with Abel Lezcano up for trainer John Sadler paid $9.20.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with an early first post of 11 a.m. PT for a nine-race card. Fans are invited to remain after the races and attend a ‘Big Game Viewing Party’ at Sirona’s bar on the main floor that includes drink specials and ‘Big Game Bingo.’

SWEET LIFE STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

ANTONIO FRESU, LIGHT WON UP, WINNER: “We always liked her even when she was a baby. She went out nicely first time on the dirt. I think there was some problems down at Churchill, she didn’t run as we expected. Obviously, she took a long time. But I breezed her the other day and she gave me a nice, great feeling. I thought she would love the grass and she did, indeed. I think she’s still improving, still getting better and I was really happy to team up with her today.

“She always shows speed. I let her run the first hundred yards and then I took her back. Once she settled, I took her back to get a nice breather. She crossed the dirt pretty well and she was very brave when she found the gap on the inside to take the lead and showed a great turn of foot. She’s getting better and better. Very good training performance by Doug coming back from a layoff and first time on the grass to win a stakes like this”.

FRESU COMING BACK FROM HIS INJURY: “Once you’re out, you’re out, and you follow the horses because you don’t want to miss a beat. You want to be ready when you come back so you follow the form of the horses, but it’s not nice to be on the bench. It is what it is. Doing this job, sometimes there’s a lot of risk and we’re lucky if it’s just something small, not a major thing. Mine was a minor fracture. You want to be 100 percent to perform 100 percent. I took my six weeks, was feeling good and was ready to come back. The first couple of rides, from being at home to back on the track is a different feeling. You need to figure it out, but it was pretty good.”

TRAINER QUOTES

DOUG O’NEILL, LIGHT WON UP, WINNER: “Her mare won a stake down the hill I think. With these younger horses there are not a lot of opportunities, so we kind of ran where we had those opportunities early on, then she got a little body sore and I have to thank Mark Davis and Janie Buss, her owners, and Joe Miller who represents them. They just did the right thing and gave her time. She has matured a lot and Antonio rode a great race as well.

“My only worry was that she could be a little bit anxious, being so fresh, she may just hyperventilate and not be at her best today. But Antonio, he’s just got such quiet hands. He got her to settle and finish. It just worked out perfectly.”

__NOTES: __The winning owners are Purple Rein Racing and Mark Davis.