Acting Lady wins first stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Acting Lady, who lost her first four starts in stakes, won the $150,000 Providencia Stakes in an upset on Saturday.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Acting Lady ($43.60) outdueled Italian stakes winner Mrs Kipling in the final sixteenth to win the one-mile turf race by a half-length. Pasar Silbano, the early pacesetter, held third in a field of 11 3-year-old fillies. Rosy Mantle, the 2-1 favorite, finished fifth, 3 1/4 lengths behind Acting Lady.

Acting Lady was fourth for the first half of the race, stalking Pasar Silbano who set early fractions of 22.69 and 46.19 seconds. Acting Lady was within a half-length of Pasar Silbano at the eighth pole and held off Mrs Kipling late.

Owned by a partnership and trained by Doug O'Neill, Acting Lady has won 2 of 7 starts and $114,320. A Kentucky-bred who began her career in England last summer, Acting Lady won her California debut in a one-mile turf race at Hollywood Park last November.

She then finished third in the Blue Norther Stakes, fifth in both the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel and La Habra Stakes and second in the China Doll Stakes here on March 8.

O'Neill said she will be pointed for stakes at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting.

Soul City Slew a claimer no more

Three races after he was claimed for $50,000, the 6-year-old gelding Soul City Slew won the first stakes of his career in the $150,000 Potrero Grande Handicap at Santa.

The victory came just 13 days after Soul City Slew won a $50,000 claimer for La Canada Stables and trainer Jack Carava. They claimed him for $50,000 on Feb. 6, the day he finished third.

In the Grade 2 Potrero Grande, Soul City Slew rallied on the rail in the final sixteenth under jockey Michael Baze to win by a half-length. Halo Najib, the 3-2 favorite, finished second, a head in front of Paul's Hope.

Sea of Pleasure set a quick early pace of 21.50 and 43.96 seconds but faded to finish last after yielding the lead to Halo Najib on the turn. Soul City Slew was still sixth with a quarter-mile remaining but had moved to third, within two lengths of the lead, with a furlong remaining.

Soul City Slew paid $25 and ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.79. He has won 9 of 36 starts and $450,002. Prior to Saturday's race, his best result in a stakes were third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Pat O'Brien Handicap in 2007 and the Grade 2 San Carlos Handicap in 2008.