Gamine being pointed to Derby City Distaff

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gamine was the fourth champion of 2020 to win this year when she cruised to an easy score in Sunday’s Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.

The outstanding female sprinter last year, Gamine performed well within herself to beat three overmatched rivals in the Las Flores at six furlongs. That was fine with trainer Bob Baffert. Ridden by John Velazquez, Gamine led from the start and won by five lengths, finishing in 1:09.52 and earning a 98 Beyer Figure.

“I told Johnny if everything went smooth, save her a little bit,” Baffert said Monday. “Don’t cut her loose.”

Baffert plans to start Gamine in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff, a $500,000 race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs May 1 at Churchill Downs. In her last start in Kentucky, Gamine was an easy winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland in November, a win that clinched her championship for owner Michael Lund Petersen.

This year, Essential Quality, the champion 2-year-old male of 2020, has won two stakes, including Saturday’s Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, won her first start of the year in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita last month. Monomoy Girl, the outstanding older female of 2020, won the Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park in February.

Whitmore, the champion sprinter; Channel Maker, the outstanding male turf horse; and Vequist, the champion 2-year-old filly; were beaten in their first races this year. Channel Maker has started in two seven-figure turf races in the Middle East, including a second in the $1 million Neom Cup on Feb. 20 in Saudi Arabia.

Authentic, the 2020 Horse of the Year; Improbable, the outstanding older male; and Rushing Fall, the champion turf female, were retired last year. Moscato, the top steeplechaser of 2020, sustained a tendon injury in 2020 and is sidelined.

Soothsay to try Kentucky Oaks

Soothsay emerged from her win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks in such fine condition that trainer Richard Mandella was cautiously making plans to test the filly in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Soothsay is unbeaten in two starts – a maiden special weight race at six furlongs for 3-year-old fillies on Feb. 26 and the $392,000 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles. The $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks is run at 1 1/8 miles and will pit Soothsay against more experienced fillies.

Soothsay, who races for the partnership of Claiborne Farm, Adele Dilschneider, and Ramona Bass, seems to have learned a lot in her brief career in advance of the Kentucky Oaks.

“Right now, that’s what we’re thinking about,” Mandella said Sunday. “It’s a possibility. I asked a lot of her to do this.

“We’re not going to keep her from it. If she trains as good as she ran, we probably will go. This morning, she looked pretty good.”

Soothsay ($10.40) looked just fine in the $392,000 Santa Anita Oaks against three rivals, closing on the rail in the stretch and holding off a sustained threat from 9-10 favorite Beautiful Gift, another candidate for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks.

“She ran like a professional horse,” Mandella said of Soothsay. “She’s always worked like a runner. She’s got a lot of things going for her.”

D’Amato fillies on win streaks

Phil’s fillies have been almost unbeatable in turf stakes at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

Saturday, trainer Phil D’Amato won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at a mile for older fillies and mares with Charmaine’s Mia and the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes at 1 1 /8 miles for 3-year-old fillies with Going Global.

Both have won three turf stakes this year and will have at least one more start before the end of the Santa Anita season on June 20.

Charmaine’s Mia, who joined the stable over the winter, will have her Grade 1 debut in the $300,000 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

“Grade 1s don’t come around that often,” D’Amato said. “This is something we’d look for.”

This year, Charmaine’s Mia won at a mile for the first time in the Grade 2 Buena Vista and Royal Heroine – her only wins at the distance. She has primarily raced in sprints during her career, with a majority of starts at Woodbine before she was purchased by Agave Racing Stables and Rockin Robin Racing Stable.

Going Global is unbeaten in three starts in the United States since being purchased in Ireland last year. She won the Grade 3 Sweet Life Stakes at six furlongs on turf Feb. 13 and the China Doll Stakes at a mile on turf March 6.

D’Amato said Going Global is likely to run in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 22 in advance of two intended starts on turf at the Del Mar summer meeting in the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile on July 24 and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 21.