Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Paradise Woods impresses
ARCADIA, Calif. – Paradise Woods will ship from California to Kentucky at the top of her game.
The romping winner of the Santa Anita Oaks and the presumptive favorite for the Kentucky Oaks next Friday at Churchill Downs, Paradise Woods cruised through her final prerace workout Thursday at Santa Anita, after which trainer Richard Mandella made no attempt to hide his enthusiasm.
“She looks like she’s getting better to me,” an animated Mandella said. “It looked like an afternoon gallop. I’m pretty excited.”
Paradise Woods and jockey Flavien Prat broke off behind workmate Milhaud, cruised outside and past that rival in the lane, and finished six furlongs in 1:12.40. When Paradise Woods went by her rival, Mandella said, “Flav just had a hold of her.”
The Santa Anita clocker staff timed her splits in 23.80 seconds, 35.20, and 59.20. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:26.40. Although Paradise Woods worked from behind on Thursday, Mandella said the filly will use her speed in the Kentucky Oaks.
“We set her back there [behind her workmate], but she wanted to go,” Mandella said. “She’s a young, learning filly that’s very fast. In the race, she’ll probably be on the lead. [We’re] not going to fight her.”
Paradise Woods set the pace when she won the Santa Anita Oaks by 11 3/4 lengths, earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in just the third start of her career.
Paradise Woods will ship Monday to Churchill Downs, where she will gallop and school in the paddock leading into next Friday’s race.
A daughter of first-crop sire Union Rags, Paradise Woods has won two of three starts. She will try to become the first Santa Anita Oaks winner to win the Kentucky Oaks since Rags to Riches in 2007.
Paradise Woods will be the first Kentucky Oaks starter for Mandella since 2013, when Beholder finished second.
Kruljac mulls options
Finest City and trainer Ian Kruljac will race at Churchill Downs for the first time in their careers next week. The question is which race?
Kruljac said Finest City, the champion female sprinter of 2016, will enter two stakes – the Grade 1 La Troienne at 1 1/16 miles next Friday and the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at seven furlongs next Saturday.
“We’re going to enter both races and probably [run in] the Humana,” Kruljac said.
He said a decision will be made after “we see post positions.” Kruljac said Mike Smith will ride the filly in either race.
Finest City finished second last out at Santa Anita in the Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita. Her two previous starts, also at Santa Anita, were wins in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November and the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes in January.
A winner of five races and $1,125,594 from 16 starts, Finest City will be racing outside California for the first time. Finest City also will be the first Churchill Downs starter for Kruljac. He said the 5-yearold mare will have her final prerace workout at Santa Anita and will ship Wednesday.
Songbird on list for Adoration
Songbird is coming around quickly, and though the twotime champion is not expected to make her first start of the year until June 3 at Santa Anita in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile, her first option is much sooner.
Songbird has been nominated to the Grade 3 Adoration Stakes, a $100,000 race on May 7 at 1 1/16 miles.
The champion 2-year-old filly of 2015 and champion 3-year-old filly of 2016, Songbird won the first 11 starts of her career prior to a nose defeat to Beholder in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Songbird has had three published workouts since returning to serious training.
Songbird, owned by Rick Porter, has won 11 races and $3,712,000 from 12 starts.
The rapidly improving California-bred Skye Diamonds is expected to be among the principals in the 1 1/16-mile Adoration.
Santa Barbara lengthened
The Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita will be run for the first time in two years on Sunday and at a new distance.
The $100,000 Santa Barbara was previously run at 1 1/4 miles on turf and has been lengthened to 1 1/2 miles. The race now has a unique position on the California calendar as the longest graded stakes on turf for fillies and mares.
Del Mar has the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap at 1 3/8 miles and Santa Anita runs the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles.
The Santa Barbara was not run in 2016.
Sunday’s race is projected to have a field of at least six, including two minor stakes winners – Estrechada, in Argentina in 2015, and Evo Campo, who won the Possibly Perfect at 1 1/2 miles on turf here last June.
Estrechada was second in the Astra Stakes at 1 1/2 miles for fillies and mares on turf Feb. 2 and was fifth of eight in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational on dirt March 18.
The likely favorite is Place des Vosges, winner of optional claimers at 1 1/4 miles on turf Feb. 24 and 1 1/8 miles on turf March 26. Trained by Richard Baltas for Abbondanza Racing, Place des Vosges was sixth in the Ladies Marathon Stakes at Kentucky Downs last September in her only previous start in a stakes. She joined Baltas’s stable in January.