Pulpit Rider, Spiced Perfection tangle

ARCADIA, Calif. – Pulpit Rider has the recent stakes win at a mile on turf. Spiced Perfection won a sprint stakes on dirt last month. They both will be out of their element to some extent in Sunday’s $200,000 Melair Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

They approach the Melair Stakes in excellent form but have not won a two-turn dirt race.

Pulpit Rider, trained by Mike Puype for Larry and Marianne Williams, and Spiced Perfection, trained by Brian Koriner for Dare to Dream Stable, figure to dominate the betting in a field of seven. The race has one other stakes winner in One Fast Broad, whose form has tailed off in recent starts.

KEY CONTENDERS

Pulpit Rider, by Lucky Pulpit Last 3 Beyers: 80-81-83

◗ Pulpit Rider has won two one-mile turf races for California-bred 3-year-old fillies this year – the California Cup Oaks at Santa Anita in February and the Campanile Stakes on April 29 at Golden Gate Fields. In both races, she closed from a few lengths off the lead.

◗ The Melair Stakes will be her first start since a fifth behind One Fast Broad in the Soviet Problem Stakes at a mile in December at Los Alamitos.

◗ A winner of 4 of 9 starts, Pulpit Rider won a six-furlong maiden race for California-bred 2-year-old fillies by 8 1/2 lengths last August at Del Mar.

“She moved up on the grass,” Puype said. “How do you not run for $200,000?”

◗ The surface switch is a minor concern but could lead to other opportunities in the coming months, he said.

“Our filly is better than she was earlier,” Puype said. “It opens up other doors if she can do it.”

Spiced Perfection, by Smiling Tiger Last 3 Beyers: 85-66-68

◗ Spiced Perfection won the Evening Jewel Stakes for California-bred fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs on April 7 in a 10-1 upset. She closed from fourth from the rail post to win by a neck over Show It N Moe It.

◗ A winner of 3 of 8 starts, Spiced Perfection has not raced at a mile since a second to One Fast Broad in the Soviet Problem, her only start around two turns.

“Either she can get the distance or she can’t,” Koriner said. “The race she comes out of is a good race.

“She ran good at a mile at Los Al, but that is a different place. This is a much more laboring track. She tries hard every time.”

One Fast Broad, by Decarchy Last 3 Beyers: 61-60-78

◗ Owned and trained by Mick Ruis, One Fast Broad was the California-bred champion 2-year-old filly of 2017 on the strength of consecutive stakes wins in the fall.

◗ This year, One Fast Broad is winless in three starts, including a seventh in the Evening Jewel Stakes. For the Melair, One Fast Broad has drawn the outside post and will be ridden by Drayden Van Dyke for the first time.