SANTA ANITA Pretty N Cool begins second-half push for Baffert

ARCADIA, Calif. – As long as Finest City is on the sidelines, the female sprint division in California is wide open. It also is spread thin.

Only five entered the Grade 3 Desert Stormer Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita, and those who miss the $100,000 stakes race or need a prep will have another chance soon enough. The Grade 2 Great Lady M., a $200,000 sprint for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos, is July 8.

Finest City, the 2016 champion female sprinter, is under consideration for the Great Lady M., trainer Ian Kruljac said Friday. She is scheduled to breeze next week.

Meanwhile, an eclectic field entered the six-furlong Desert Stormer, led by graded stakes winner Pretty N Cool. Others include Bendable, a stakes winner returning from a layoff; the route-to-sprint upset candidate Bellamentary; and the intriguing Invested Prospect, an Emerald Downs stakes winner who is 7 for 7 in sprints. Coniah also entered.

Pretty N Cool has improved at age 4, and trainer Bob Baffert is already thinking Breeders’ Cup with a filly whose 2017 campaign is light. She won a Grade 3 in March and finished second in a Grade 3 in May.

“I don’t want to run her too much, I want her really fresh,” Baffert said. “I want her for the Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar. She likes that track.”

Pretty N Cool also likes Santa Anita, where she scored a frontrunning Grade 3 victory in March.

Pretty N Cool will have company on the front end. Invested Prospect arrived this week from Emerald Downs by way of Golden Gate Fields. Blaine Wright trains Invested Prospect, who was odds-on to win a $50,000 stakes May 20 at Emerald but flipped in the gate.

“She scratched at the gate, and that’s the primary reason why she’s not running back here at Emerald,” Wright said, declining to elaborate. The competition is tougher Sunday.

“It may be a little ambitious on our part, but she’s done everything right so far,” Wright said. “We have to see where she fits to know which direction we need to go with her.”

Bendable won a minor stakes last fall at Los Alamitos, then cracked a splint bone at Keeneland while finishing third in a Grade 2 race.

“She’s all healed up and training good,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “We expect a good effort.”

Bellamentary won a Santa Anita sprint stakes last year and finished second in her recent comeback in a turf route.

“The turnback is good,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “We’ll see if we can fit with these kinds of horses.”

KEY CONTENDERS

Pretty N Cool, by Scat Daddy Last 3 Beyers: 94-90-82

◗ Baffert entered the weekend having won with seven of his last eight stakes runners. The other finished second. Martin Garcia rides.

Bendable, by Horse Greeley Last 3 Beyers: 84-85-94

◗ She has won three of five; Mike Smith rides.

Invested Prospect, by Abraaj Last 3 Beyers: 83-86-70

◗ Wright and jockey Tyler Baze have won multiple stakes with Alert Bay.

Bellamentary, by Bellamy Road Last 3 Beyers: 87-63-80

◗ She makes her second start back from a layoff; Flavien Prat rides.