Jolie Olimpica in tough spot

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jolie Olimpica might win the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes again on Saturday at Santa Anita, but the likely favorite faces a tougher field than in her splashy win in the race in her U.S. debut one year ago.

Most of the seven in the fillymare turf sprint enter with legit credentials. They include Grade 1 winner Oleksandra, stakes winner Lighthouse, allowance winners Acting Out and Superstition, and recent California arrivals Charmaine’s Mia and Bohemian Bourbon.

It is a deep field in a niche division – female turf sprint – and a chance for Jolie Olimpica to start over. Richard Mandella trains the Group 1 winner from Brazil who began her 2020 campaign with a decisive victory in the Las Cienegas.

She also won the Grade 2 Monrovia at Santa Anita, and finished second in a pair of turf routes – the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland and Grade 2 Buena Vista at Santa Anita. But there were missed opportunities along the way, both at Del Mar.

A grabbed quarter knocked her out of the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon in summer, and a foot bruise precluded her from entering the Grade 1 Matriarch in fall.

“Training horses is full of setbacks,” Mandella said. “Like Mel Stute said once after the Derby, ‘We have a lot of experience with disappointments.’ ”

Although Jolie Olimpica is racing for the first time since July, Mandella is optimistic.

“I expect her to run well,” he said. “She had a little bit of a foot problem, but she’s over it now and back in good shape.”

From the outside post in the seven-runner field, Jolie Olimpica and jockey Mike Smith can press the pace, or go on with it. The new turf chute has played fair at the six-furlong Las Cienegas distance. The first seven races included one gate-to-wire winner, three that pressed from second or third, and three from the middle or back.

The 4-year-old Lighthouse faces older graded rivals for the first time. Her development in 2020 hints she is up to the task.

“Her race in the Daisycutter at Del Mar against older horses, even though she didn’t win, that was her breakthrough race,” trainer Simon Callaghan said.

Lighthouse finished second in the $71,000 Daisycutter, then shipped to Kentucky Downs for a decisive victory against 3-year-old fillies in the $400,000 Music City Stakes on Sept. 15. The Las Cienegas is her first start since.

“She’s on a really good pattern leading into this race,” Callaghan said. “She’s coming back ready to fire.”

Umberto Rispoli rides Lighthouse.

Oleksandra drops in class after finishing ninth, beaten five lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, her first start since a splint injury sidelined her for four months.

“She wasn’t beaten that far, and it was asking a lot,” trainer Neil Drysdale said. “We gave her a rest after the Breeders’ Cup, and she’s coming around nicely now.”

Oleksandra won the Grade 1 Jaipur at Belmont Park in June. Regular rider Joel Rosario is back aboard the stretch-runner.

The Las Cienegas is race 9 on Saturday.