Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Santa Paula cast chock-full of talent
ARCADIA, Calif. – In one respect, the Santa Paula Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Sunday at Santa Anita is little more than a first-level allowance sprint – all seven entrants are eligible to the first condition.
And yet the $75,000 stakes came up surprisingly tough. Union Strike is a Grade 1 winner, Chalon is the only horse to defeat Unique Bella, Life’s Blessings finished second to Santa Anita Oaks contender Princess Karen, and Selcourt scored a flashy debut win that is likely to make her the Santa Paula favorite.
Owner-trainer Mick Ruis acknowledged the challenge facing Union Strike in her first start of the year.
“I’ve got two Bafferts, two Millers, a Sadler, and a Richard Baltas for a wild card,” Ruis said. “There are no easy races in Southern California.”
Bob Baffert trains Life’s Blessings and Charlatana, Peter Miller trains Chalon and Auntjenn, John Sadler trains Selcourt, and Baltas trains Mistressofthenight. None of those fillies is as accomplished as Union Strike, who was trained by Ruis’s daughter Shelbe Ruis when she won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante as a maiden. Union Strike is ready. “She’s had three bullets,” Mick Ruis said. “She’s fit. I think she wants to go longer, and the next race we’ll go there. If it all goes well, we’ll look at the Black-Eyed Susan,” a Grade 2 stakes on May 19 at Pimlico. “We’ve got a great 3-year-old season in front of us that is just starting.”
Selcourt is just starting her career. She earned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure in her runaway debut Feb. 12 and could have run back in an allowance in March, but Sadler reasoned that the Santa Paula “is usually like a non-winners of one other than, so why not try to get some black type?”
From the moment Selcourt crossed the wire in front by more than nine lengths, Sadler circled the 6 1/2-furlong Santa Paula.
“She’s come back and trained even better for the second race,” Sadler said, “so this will be fun.”
The main rival for Selcourt might be Life’s Blessings, whose Santa Paula status was solidified after she worked a bullet five furlongs Monday in 59.20 seconds. She finished second in a March 10 allowance, her first start since a debut win in August at Del Mar.
“She’s a little, light filly, and I had to back off her after [her debut],” Baffert said.
He was satisfied with her runner-up comeback.
“She gets away a little slow, but she came running. Now, she’s ready,” Baffert said.
Chalon also is ready for her first start since her debut victory in June, which came at the expense of runner-up Unique Bella. Three weeks later on July 9, trainer Peter Miller brought Chalon back for the Landaluce Stakes. Chalon scratched in the post parade; the explanation provided by stewards was the catch-all “unsound.”
“We don’t know what happened,” Miller said. “We think she tied up, but it’s a mystery. We did all the diagnostics and couldn’t find anything wrong with her, so I said, ‘Let’s give her time.’ She’s been good coming back.”
Miller also starts Auntjenn, one of six runners recently transferred to Miller by owners Ike and Dawn Thrash.
“I think she’s going to need a race,” Miller said.
Charlatana is not a confirmed runner; Mistressofthenight has two bullet works since her last start.
SANTA PAULA, RACE 9 KEY CONTENDERS
Selcourt, by Tiz Wonderful Last Beyer: 85
◗ The field Selcourt faces Sunday is considerably tougher than the one she met in her debut. Four of the five fillies she beat ran back, and none hit the board.
◗ If she runs well Sunday, Selcourt will be considered for the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes, a seven-furlong race for 3-yearold fillies on May 5, Kentucky Oaks Day, at Churchill Downs.
◗ Following her debut, owner and breeder Keith Abrahams sold a 25 percent share of the filly to a partnership that includes Medallion Racing and Sandra Lazaruk.
Life’s Blessings, by Tapit Last 2 Beyers: 77-66
◗ Her dam is Indian Blessing, the 2007 champion 2-yearold filly and 2008 champion female sprinter. Life’s Blessings is owned by breeders Hal and Patti Earnhardt, who campaigned Indian Blessing.
◗ Life’s Blessings broke slowly in both starts.
Chalon, by Dialed In Last Beyer: 79
◗ Rockingham Ranch owns Chalon, who was the 2-1 second choice in the betting when she scratched from the Landaluce.
◗ Norberto Arroyo rides Chalon; the Arroyo-Miller combination has won 18 of 42 at this meet, tops in the jockeytrainer standings.
Union Strike, by Classic Strike Last 3 Beyers: 75-63-81
◗ She is making her first start since finishing fifth to Abel Tasman in the Grade 1 Starlet in December at Los Alamitos.