Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Spring Lily to tackle tougher company in Santa Ysabel
ARCADIA, Calif. – Minutes before Spring Lily had her Santa Anita debut in a maiden race Feb. 4, trainer John Shirreffs turned to jockey Evin Roman and offered simple advice.
“We need an Eclipse Awardwinning ride,” Shirreffs said.
The timing was ideal. Just 10 days earlier, Roman was honored with the Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice jockey of 2017. In the maiden race, Roman delivered Shirreffs’s wishes, guiding the filly to a five-length win going 6 1/2 furlongs.
The victory has led Spring Lily to Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-yearold fillies at 1 1/16 miles. Despite the presence of the stakes winners Dream Tree and Midnight Bisou, Spring Lily fits in the $150,000 race.
“She lacks experience, but her numbers are good out of that maiden race win,” Shirreffs said.
Spring Lily earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88 in the maiden race, which was restricted to homebreds and horses bought for $100,000 or less at public auction. Spring Lily, by Union Rags, was bred by Emily Wygod and races for her parents, Marty and Pam.
Spring Lily finished seventh at Del Mar last November in her debut when trained by Clifford Sise. She was transferred to Shirreffs in the weeks after that race.
Shirreffs said he was somewhat surprised Spring Lily won a sprint. She led throughout the Feb. 4 race and was in control in early stretch as an 18-1 outsider.
“I was thinking the race was a little short for her,” he said.
Spring Lily’s best chance on Saturday may be from the front. Dream Tree, who has won three consecutive stakes, and Midnight Bisou, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs on Jan. 7, tend to race as stalkers.
“In the morning, she’ll do whatever you want,” Shirreffs said. “She’ll sit next to a horse and be patient. It was a little surprising to see her out there last time.”
The Santa Ysabel Stakes is a prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 7.
One filly missing from the 3-year-old division so far this year is Moonshine Memories, winner of the two Grade 1 races last September – the Del Mar Debutante and Chandelier Stakes.
Moonshine Memories has not raced since finishing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar in November and will have her first workout of the year in early March, trainer Simon Callaghan said Wednesday.
Giant Expectations to Big Cap
Giant Expectations is a probable starter for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 10, while Hayabusa One is doubtful, and Dalmore is bound for Oaklawn Park, their trainers said Wednesday.
Giant Expectations won the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles here Dec. 26 and was ninth as a longshot in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27.
Trainer Peter Eurton said Wednesday that Giant Expectations is more likely to start in the $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles than the Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes, a $400,000 race at seven furlongs the same day.
“I’m leaning toward the route,” he said. “It comes down to who is running in it.”
The Big Cap will be the first start at 1 1/4 miles for Giant Expectations. Eurton believes the 5-year-old horse can handle the distance “if he paces himself.”
“I think he has a really nice cruising speed,” Eurton said. “In Florida, he got away from that. In the San Antonio, I think he could have gone around again.”
In the Big Cap, Giant Expectations will be ridden by Corey Nakatani, Eurton said. Nakatani has never ridden Giant Expectations, who has won 4 of 14 starts.
The Big Cap is not expected to draw West Coast, the leading older horse in California. West Coast, the champion 3-year-old male of 2017 and the runnerup in the Pegasus, is expected to have his next start in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates on March 31.
The Big Cap candidates include Accelerate, Fear the Cowboy, Hoppertunity, Mubtaahij, Pavel, Prime Attraction, and Top of the Game.
Hayabusa One, second in the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Feb. 3, will work this weekend at Del Mar for a likely start in the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf March 24.
“We’re either in the Big Cap, depending on how he works this weekend, or the San Luis Rey,” trainer Peter Miller said. “He has to wow me to go in the Big Cap.”
Dalmore was recently bought by Ron Paolucci and will start in the $300,000 Essex Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park on March 17, trainer Bob Hess Jr. said in a text message.
Quarantine set to be lifted
California agriculture officials are expected to lift a 14-day quarantine Monday on a stable at Los Alamitos that had a horse test positive for non-neurogenic “wild-type” strain of equine herpesvirus type 1, according to a statement released Tuesday by the California Horse Racing Board.
A barn with 11 horses has been quarantined and is under observation. The quarantine will be lifted provided there are no additional cases of illness, the statement said.
Currently, horses from Los Alamitos are being permitted to race at Santa Anita provided they are inspected by racing board veterinarians prior to shipping. They are required to return to Los Alamitos after racing and cannot be stabled at Santa Anita.