Santa Anita: Stakes decision pending for Charm the Maker

Shigeki Kikkawa

Charm the Maker will run in either the Paseana on Sunday or the La Canada on Jan. 20.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Charm the Maker will start in a stakes at Santa Anita in January, but a decision on whether she runs in Sunday’s $75,000 Paseana Handicap or the $150,000 La Canada Stakes on Jan. 20 may not be made until Sunday.

The winner of the Sharp Cat Stakes on the synthetic main track at Hollywood Park in November 2011, Charm the Maker has yet to win a stakes on a dirt track in three tries. She was third in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes here in October 2011.

More recently, she has shown improvement on dirt, according to Dan Landers, trainer Ron McAnally’s assistant.

“She’s been working well on the main track,” Landers said. “She handles it. I think most of them do.”

Both the Paseana and La Canada are run over 1 1/16 miles. The Paseana is open to fillies and mares, while the La Canada is restricted to 4-year-old fillies. McAnally is expected to review his options this weekend, Landers said.

“We’ve got her in this race, but Ron wants to take a look,” Landers said of the Paseana. “That will be his decision.”

The Paseana field also includes Candrea, who won the Phil Shepherd Stakes at Fairplex Park in 2011, and the stakes-placed runners Curvy Cat, Great Hot, Snow Fall, and Sweetly Peppered. Distracting makes her fourth start, and stakes debut.

◗ Two months after giving birth to a son, jockey Kayla Stra is nearing a comeback. The 28-year-old native of Australia plans to resume riding later this month at Santa Anita. She last rode in May before taking a leave for the pregnancy. Brys Baldwin Headley was born to Stra and partner Gus Headley on Nov. 15. Headley is a trainer in Southern California.