Palo Alto Baby proves best of all in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies going 7 furlongs for horses bred or sired in California Saturday at Santa Anita

PALO ALTO BABY PROVES BEST OF ALL IN THE GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE FILLIES GOING 7 FURLONGS FOR HORSES BRED OR SIRED IN CALIFORNIA SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Oct. 31, 2026)—Following a 9 ¼-length debut win in August at Del Mar, Palo Alto Baby improved to 2-for-2 with her first stakes win in the $100,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies going seven furlongs Saturday at Santa Anita. The Golden State Juvenile Fillies is for 2-year-old females who were bred or sired in California.

Palo Alto Baby pressed heavy favorite Ember Royale (2-5) through opening fractions of 22.27 and 45.43 seconds, put that rival away in mid-stretch and went on to score by 3 ½ lengths. Tashie (70-1) finished second by a neck over Free Closer, the 6-1 second choice. Ember Royale, a sparkling 17 ½-length debut winner last month at Santa Anita, checked in fifth under Armando Aguilar.

Trained by Peter Miller, Palo Alto Baby provided eastern-based jockey Emmanuel Esquivel with his first-ever win at Santa Anita. She won in a time of 1:24.07.

“I had a lot of horse,” Esquivel said. “She actually broke on top. Peter told me not to go head to head and I tried to relax her as much as I can. Once we hit the turn she kind of backed off a little more and she relaxed, took a breather. When I asked her she just took off.

“It is a beautiful place (Santa Anita). Everybody told me that I was going to love it and I wouldn’t want to come back and they weren’t wrong. This was really nice and even more when you win.”

Palo Alto Baby is a daughter of Stanford owned and bred by Robert Traynor. Her dominant debut win at Del Mar was going 5 ½ furlongs.

Palo Alto Baby paid $19.80, $16.80 and $8.20. Tashie, ridden by Victor Espinoza and trained by Antonio Garcia, returned $63.20 and $21.80. Free Closer, with Hector Berrios aboard for trainer Michael McCarthy, paid $4.40.

Santa Anita has a 10-race card set for Sunday, which is closing day of the Autumn Meet. First post is at 12 p.m. PT. There will be mandatory payouts in all pari-mutuel pools.

GOLDEN STATE JUVENILE FILLIES STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

EMMANUEL ESQUIVEL, PALO ALTO BABY, WINNER: “I had a lot of horse. She actually broke on top. Peter told me not to go head to head and I tried to relax her as much as I can. Once we hit the turn she kind of backed off a little more and she relaxed, took a breather. When I asked her she just took off. “It is a beautiful place (Santa Anita). Everybody told me that I was going to love it and I wouldn’t want to come back and they weren’t wrong. This was really nice and even more when you win.”

NOTES: The winning trainer was Peter Miller. The winning owner and breeder is Robert Traynor.