Santa Anita: Rumor can extend racing career in Keeneland's Madison

Shigeki Kikkawa

After winning the Las Flores on dirt, Rumor will switch to Polytrack for the Madison at Keeneland.

ARCADIA, Calif. – With her win in the Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday, Rumor earned a trip to Kentucky. Whether she stays there will depend on how she does in her next race, the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison Stakes on Keeneland’s Polytrack surface on April 13.

“She runs well on synthetic,” said Rumor’s trainer, Richard Mandella, who said Rumor’s owners – Ramona Bass, Adele Dilschneider, and Claiborne Farm’s Dell Hancock – “have said if she’s doing well we can keep her racing.

“We’ll see how it goes, but obviously we’re in pretty good shape right now,” Mandella said.

Had Rumor not run well in the Las Flores, her racing career might have ended right there, and her trip to Kentucky would have been to begin her breeding career.

“She’s done enough to be a broodmare,” Mandella said.

But with every strong effort, Rumor, 5, increases the chances she will remain on the track for another season.

The Grade 3 Las Flores marked the first graded stakes win for Rumor, a daughter of Indian Charlie who has now won 6 times in 14 starts. She has never raced outside of California.

Teddy’s Promise, second as the favorite in the Las Flores, also could head to Kentucky for her next start, with the Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 4 under consideration.