Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Rodeo Drive repeat would put Avenge back on track for BC
ARCADIA, Calif. – Avenge was in the best form of her career last fall at Santa Anita when she won the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes and finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Winless in two starts this year, Avenge is back in the Rodeo Drive Stakes on Saturday, a $300,000 race that owner Ramona Bass and trainer Richard Mandella hope will lead to a return engagement in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at nine furlongs on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.
Getting to the Breeders’ Cup would be a gratifying achievement, considering the disappointments this year. Avenge was a game third in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May behind division leader Lady Eli, but finished sixth in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap on Aug. 5 at Del Mar, a loss that went awry before the start.
Mandella surmises Avenge injured her front ankle in an apparent pre-race tantrum. Avenge took the lead at the start and was in front to the final furlong before fading to sixth as the 9-10 favorite. The injury put an end to Avenge’s Del Mar season.
“She got upset in the gate,” Mandella said. “She kicked a nasty hole in the back of her front ankle. It healed up fine.”
Avenge was back in training by late August and has worked steadily through September. In the Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf, Avenge is part of a field of 10, and one of two Grade 1 winners in the field. Decked Out won the Grade 1 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies last December.
The Rodeo Drive includes Goodyearforroses, who was second in the Gamely and John Mabee Stakes at Del Mar, and the minor Del Mar stakes winners Majestic Heat and Responsible for love. Beau Recall, who was second by a nose in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 19, will have her first start against older fillies and mares in the Rodeo Drive.
KEY CONTENDERS
Avenge, by War Front Last 3 Beyers: 94-97-103
◗ Avenge is proven at 1 1/4 miles on turf. In the BC Filly and Mare Turf at the same distance last November, Avenge was beaten a length by Queen’s Trust after leading by 1 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining.
“It’s what she can do,” Mandella said. “She seems good right now.”
◗ Avenge often sets the pace, but she can race as a stalker.
Decked Out, by Street Boss Last 3 Beyers: 92-92-88
◗ Decked Out was fifth in the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes on Sept. 2 in her first start of the year. She was beaten five lengths by Cambodia after steadying in traffic with a furlong remaining in the 1 1/8-mile turf race. The incident left trainer Keith Desormeaux, and his brother, jockey Kent, surprised.
“Kent was a little mad at her,” Keith Desormeaux said. “She had an opening and she didn’t go through. She stuck her feet in the ground. That’s not like her. I don’t know why she did that. The race has hopefully geared her up, and she’ll be ready to run.”
◗ Decked Out was winless in two starts at 1 1/4 miles on turf last year, including a 12th in the Rodeo Drive, but Desormeaux thinks the distance is within her range.
“I don’t think a mile and a quarter will be a problem for her,” he said.
Goodyearforroses, by Azamour Last 3 Beyers: 100-102-96
◗ Goodyearforroses, who won three stakes here at the winter-spring meeting, was an unlucky second in the Mabee. She raced in traffic on the turn and flew home to miss by threequarters of a length to Cambodia.
Trainer Richard Baltas said the longer distance of the Rodeo Drive is a better fit for Goodyearforroses.
Unzip Me draws a dozen
The 2016 stakes winners Miss Southern Miss and Noted and Quoted are part of a field of 12 in Saturday’s final race – the $70,000 Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside turf course.
Miss Southern Miss won the Surfer Girl Stakes here last October. Noted and Quoted won the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes and will have her turf debut in the Unzip Me.