Take A Breath Earns Breakthrough Victory In Sunday’s Grade III Santa Ana Stakes Going 1 ¼ Miles On Turf At Santa Anita

TAKE A BREATH EARNS BREAKTHROUGH VICTORY IN SUNDAY’S GRADE III SANTA ANA STAKES GOING 1 ¼ MILES ON TURF AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (March 15, 2026)—Take A Breath, imported from England last summer, won for the first time in the U.S. and notched her first stakes victory Sunday when prevailing by a nose in the Grade III, $100,000 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita.

Sent off at 6-1 in the 1¼-mile turf test for fillies and mares, Take A Breath and jockey Emisael Jaramillo swept to the lead on the outside when entering the stretch and had just enough left late to hold off a rallying Resolve (12-1). Mrs. Astor, the (2-1) favorite, finished one length back in third.

Take A Breath is trained by Mark Glatt for co-owners Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners and Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing. She won in a time of 2:02.06 following fractions of 24.30, 49.03, 1:14.42 and 1:38.47.

“She is a really nice filly that’s had a lot of bad luck,” Glatt said. “Without the bad luck she would have won a couple here in the U.S.”

A 4-year-old filly by Bated Breath, Take a Breath was a three-time winner in England before coming stateside last year. In her U.S. debut in August, Take A Breath closed stoutly in the GI Del Mar Oaks to finish fourth by 1 ¾ lengths. Following that encouraging local debut, Take A Breath would lose her next four starts which included two graded stakes and twice as the favorite in allowance events. Previously on Jan. 24 at Santa Anita, Take A Breath finished third as the 2-1 choice in a 1 1/8-mile allowance.

“We noticed that’s she’s putting weight on and is training a bit more forwardly,” Glatt said. “I think she just put weight on and got stronger. She is four now and that’s when these fillies really start coming around. I can’t tell you I was surprised.”

Glatt added the GI Gamely going 1 1/8 miles on May 25 at Santa Anita could be next for Take A Breath.

As for Mrs. Astor, who was seeking a seventh stakes win, trainer Jonathan Thomas was satisfied with her performance.

“Very respectable,” Thomas said. “There wasn’t a lot of pace…The winner and second-place filly ran really well. The filly that finished second had a little more kick. It’s hard to be disappointed, she ran well, just didn’t get the job done.”

Take A Breath paid $15.60, $10.00 and $5.80. Resolve, ridden by Hector Berrios for trainer Leonard Powell, returned $10.60 and $6.20. Mrs. Astor paid $3.20

Live racing resumes Friday at Santa Anita with an eight-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT.

GRADE III, SANTA ANA STAKES QUOTES

TRAINER QUOTES

MARK GLATT, TAKE A BREATH, WINNER: “She’s really blossomed the longer that she's been here. We noticed that she’s putting weight on and training a bit more forwardly. I think she just put weight on and got stronger. She is four now and that when these fillies really start coming around. I can’t tell you I was surprised. She is a really nice filly that’s had a lot of bad luck . Without the bad luck she would have won a couple here in the U.S.”

“ Jaramillo has done tremendous. His coming here, he has won a lot of races in a short amount of time. I’ve had nothing but good luck with him. Horses run for him and he seems to be pushing all the right buttons at the right time.

“I think she is fairly versatile, I don’t think that she wants anymore than a mile and a quarter, but I think anything from a mile to a mile and a quarter, I think she is a little bit of a victim of what happens on the front end. In any of those races she is going to need a little bit of a scenario, but I think she is heading in that direction to win at multiple distances. I think Jaramillo probably moved a little sooner than he wanted because I couldn’t tell which one it was that was making a premature move to his outside coming up behind him and it made him push the button just a tad bit sooner than he should have but, hey, we got the job done.”

OWNER QUOTES

TIM COHEN, RANCHO TEMESCAL, PART- OWNER, TAKE A BREATH, WINNER: “She has just been a hard luck filly. I mean all of her races she has just had, this problem, that problem and she got a clear run today and she showed us what she has. “We bought her privately, Joe Miller secured her for us overseas and she was a reach for us, but we thought the quality was there.”

Notes: The winning jockey was Emisael Jaramillo. The winning owner is Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners and Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing.