Finest City stretching out

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ian Kruljac doesn’t let Finest City get too far away from him, and why would he? Kruljac, 28, trains four horses, and she’s obviously the best.

After Finest City trained Thursday morning here at Santa Anita, Kruljac walked her for about an hour back at his barn, and she seemed to enjoy the great outdoors, calmly observing passersby in between carving ovals in the dirt.

The attention is deserved because on the track is found a different, more tenacious Finest City. She has won her last two starts, both at seven furlongs, one of which was the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, which brought her an Eclipse Award as the division’s champ. On Saturday, she will look to stretch her range to 1 1/8 miles when she competes in the Grade 1, $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes, the championship race of the meet for older fillies and mares.

Finest City never has raced this far and is winless in three starts around two turns. But it’s a misleading record. She missed by just a head in one of those races, on turf, and in her lone two-turn dirt try, she finished a little more than two lengths behind champions Beholder and Stellar Wind in the Grade 1 Vanity Mile last June.

There are no such runners in the Santa Margarita. Beholder is retired, Stellar Wind is back working but is a few weeks from returning to action, and Songbird trains every morning here and should start breezing soon for a campaign targeting a June comeback. For Finest City to prevail, she will have to outrun the red-hot Vale Dori, who has won four straight races, including the Grade 2 La Canada and Grade 2 Santa Maria at this meet.

Kruljac is confident that Finest City can handle the distance. Success, he said, will come “if no one gets in her way, she has a clear path, open space.” “That’ll do it,” he said. And if it doesn’t work out, it’s obvious that Finest City has a nice fallback position sprinting.

“There are no great sprint spots for her right now, so we might as well give it a shot,” Kruljac said. “It’s time to try.”

In addition to Finest City and Vale Dori, six others are entered in the Santa Margarita, which goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

KEY CONTENDERS

Finest City, by City Zip Last 3 Beyers: 94-94-94

◗ Mike Smith usually rides her and Vale Dori, but he is at Oaklawn on Saturday, so Tyler Baze has the mount. Baze has ridden Finest City twice previously, including to the thirdplace finish in the Vanity Mile.

Vale Dori, by Asiatic Boy Last 3 Beyers: 91-95-91

◗ Rafael Bejarano, who rode her to two wins in her first four starts in this country, regains the mount because of the absence of Smith.

◗ Owing to her recent success, she carries the top weight of 122 pounds. Everyone else carries 120.

Show Stealer, by Eskendereya Last 3 Beyers: 88-91-84

◗ She was second to Vale Dori in both the Santa Maria and La Canada at 1 1/16 miles and should appreciate the extra distance.