Attitude key to Zusha’s performance

DEL MAR, Calif. – A class drop and attitude adjustment do not guarantee Zusha will win the $75,000 Tranquility Stakes on Friday at Del Mar, but conditions should be favorable compared to her last start.

Five entered the Tranquility Lake, a restricted race for fillies and mares at a mile on dirt frequently won by graded droppers such as Zusha. But she needs an improved mindset to defeat Proud Emma, frontrunner Message, dropper Hang a Star, and Smiling Shirlee.

Gary Mandella trains Zusha, who placed in three graded routes before she tailed off in spring. When racing was interrupted by the pandemic, Mandella gave her a break and planned to bring her back in a sprint.

“I’ll bet if I freshen her up, she’ll fire big in that six and a half,” he said, referring to the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes on July 4 at Los Alamitos.

It made sense. Zusha had run well at Los Al and was a capable sprinter.

What Mandella could not control was the mare’s frame of mind. Zusha was happy when she boarded the van for the raceday ship from Santa Anita to Los Alamitos, but she was an irritable mess after she arrived.

“From the second she walked off the van at Los Alamitos, she went bonkers,” Mandella said. “Something set her off. I honestly don’t know what the difference was. She stayed wound up [all day]. I knew she wasn’t going to run anywhere near her best.”

Under the circumstances, Zusha ran okay. She finished five lengths behind winner Sneaking Out and slightly more than four lengths behind runner-up Bellafina. Sneaking Out returned to win the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap at Del Mar; Bellafina returned to finish second in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga.

Zusha arrived at Del Mar early last month, and Mandella has worked on settling her down.

“I think we’ve got her a lot better,” he said. “If mentally she acts right, her best race can be right there.”

Zusha has won 2 of 21 starts. Proud Emma might be the one to beat in the Tranquility Lake, wheeling back in 12 days after a runner-up finish in an allowance sprint that trainer Peter Miller said was designed as a prep for the Tranquility Lake. Proud Emma has won running long and at Del Mar.

Message is expected to set the pace; six of the last 13 dirt miles were won in wire-to-wire fashion. Hang a Star finished fourth in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch last out. Californiabred 3-year-old stakes winner Smiling Shirlee faces older in a stakes for the first time.

Miss Costa Rica debuts

A turf sprint for maiden 2-year-old fillies was split and will be run Friday as race 1 and race 7. Race 7 marks the debut of Miss Costa Rica, a Hit It a Bomb sibling to Grade 3 winner Gas Station Sushi. Like her sibling, Miss Costa Rica is trained by Richard Baltas.

Baltas was asked if there are any similarities between Gas Station Sushi and Miss Costa Rica.

“Yeah, she’s fast,” he replied. Miss Costa Rica could be long gone in race 7.