Majestic Heat shortens up for Spring Fever Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – The one time Majestic Heat turned back from a route to a sprint, she won a stakes race for California-breds at Del Mar, so trainer Richard Mandella is hoping for the same outcome Sunday at Santa Anita when Majestic Heat cuts back to the shortest distance she’s ever run, six furlongs, in the $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes.

At Del Mar on Nov. 12, Majestic Heat was a 3 1/2-length winner of the Betty Grable Stakes, returning eight days after her previous start. This time, she’ll have had 15 days since she finished a distant third to Unique Bella in the Santa Maria Stakes, and obviously the competition will be easier, but this will be uncharted territory for Majestic Heat, who has sprinted just once in her 18-race career, in that seven-furlong Betty Grable.

“I didn’t have anything else I could do with her,” Mandella said Friday. “I wish it was seven furlongs.”

It may not matter. Majestic Heat still could be favored. She has just four rivals, and only one, Miss Sunset, is a graded stakes winner like Majestic Heat.

The Spring Fever goes as race 3 on a nine-race card that drew just 63 entries – an average of seven per race – plus one also-eligible. The Spring Fever is one of three races with five entrants, and another has just six, perhaps the inevitable result of adding extra races to recent Saturday cards.

KEY CONTENDERS

Majestic Heat, by Unusual Heat Last 3 Beyers: 92-86-94

◗ She won the Grade 2 Bayakoa at Los Alamitos in December, but most of her success has come in California-bred company, in which she has won three stakes, including the Betty Grable.

“I thought it was terrific,” Mandella said of the Betty Grable. “I think she fits with this group. She came out of her last race like she does sometimes, very fresh.”

Miss Sunset, by Into Mischief Last 3 Beyers: 83-47-89

◗ A disappointment in her last two starts, she won the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland in October, one of seven wins from her first 11 starts.

◗ She looks to be the controlling speed in this field.

◗ She is unbeaten at six furlongs but is 0 for 4 on dirt at Santa Anita.

Bad Ju Ju, by Desert Code Last 3 Beyers: 41-78-80

◗ She ran poorly in her last start Dec. 29 but was claimed out of the race by trainer John Sadler, who opted to run her here instead of an optional claimer Saturday, from which Sadler said she would be scratched.

“The stake looked like it would have a small field, and if she runs a good race, which I think she will, might as well run in the stake,” Sadler said Friday. “If she’s got a good race in her, which I think she does, I think she’ll show it here.”