Pura Vida Princesa rolls to victory on short rest in the Senator Ken Maddy Stakes presented by Cygames for fillies and mares going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course Saturday at Santa Anita

PURA VIDA PRINCESA ROLLS TO VICTORY ON SHORT REST IN THE SENATOR KEN MADDY STAKES PRESENTED BY CYGAMES FOR FILLIES AND MARES GOING ABOUT 6 ½ FURLONGS ON THE HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Oct. 24, 2026)—Returning in just 12 days, Pura Vida Princesa went straight to the lead under jockey Emisael Jaramillo and was never challenged on the way to her first stakes win Saturday in the $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes presented by Cygames for fillies and mares going about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Pura Vida Princesa (11-1) was cutting back to a sprint less than two weeks after finishing sixth in the Swingtime Stakes going one mile on turf on Oct. 10 at Santa Anita. On Saturday, she went to the front, set unpressured fractions of 21.77, 44.0 and 1:06.32 and had plenty in reserve late to prevail by one length in a final time of 1:12.9. Rethink (5-1) finished second under Julien Leparoux and it was another 1 ¼ lengths back to 8-5 favorite Amorita in third.

Three races prior to the Senator Ken Maddy, Jaramillo also won the Tokyo City Cup aboard favorite Mr. A.P. for trainer Vladimir Cerin.

“The 6 ½ (furlongs) distance was beautiful for her,” Jaramillo said. “At one mile, she’s very strong and pulls you. Today, the 6 ½ was perfect. (Fractions) of 21, 44, no problem.”

Pura Vida Princesa improved to 15: 4-2-3 with more than $250,000 in earnings for owner Superfecta King Stables.

“She has a lot of natural speed,” O’Neill said. “Emisael Jaramillo fits her perfectly and I have to thank all the Superfecta boys, it’s a great group of guys and just a cool filly that hopefully has a lot of upside with her.”

In her only previous start on the hillside turf course, the 4-year-old filly by Complexity won a first-level allowance in February. She had raced at one mile or over in her previous four starts.

“In her last races, I was trying to get her on the pace by herself,” O’Neill said. “She can be a little bit of an anxious filly. I thought going two turns she could maybe have it her way a little easier but that didn’t work out that well. She is two for two now coming down the hill, so it worked out perfect.”

Pura Vida Princesa paid $24.40, $9.00 and $6.40. Rethink, trained by Phil D’Amato, returned $6.40 and $4.40. Amorita, with Kazushi Kimura up for trainer Richard Mandella, paid $3.20.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with a nine-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT.

SENATOR KEN MADDY STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

EMISAEL JARAMILLO, PURA VIDA PRINCESA, WINNER: “The 6 ½ distance was beautiful for her. At one mile, she’s very strong and pulls you. Today, the 6 ½ was perfect. (Fractions) of 21, 44, no problem.”

TRAINER QUOTES

DOUG O’NEILL, PURA VIDA PRINCESA, WINNER: “In her last races, I was trying to get her on the pace by herself and she can be a little bit of an anxious filly. I thought going two turns she could maybe have it her way a little easier but that didn’t work out that well. She is two for two now coming down the hill, so it worked out perfect. “She has a lot of natural speed. Emisael Jaramillo fits her perfectly and I have to thank all the Superfecta boys, it’s a great group of guys and just a cool filly that hopefully has a lot of upside with her.”

NOTES: The winning owner is Superfecta King Stable.