Adare Manor looms large again, looks to wire Santa Margarita
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ARCADIA, Calif. – A Grade 2 on dirt is the top race Saturday at Santa Anita, but a Grade 3 on turf offers greater appeal at half the prize money.
Perhaps the only significant thing the $200,000 Santa Margarita and $100,000 Honeymoon have in common is both are nine furlongs. Just five fillies and mares entered the Santa Margarita, race 4, and anything short of decisive victory by front-runner Adare Manor will be a surprise.
A more compelling race, from a wagering perspective, is the Honeymoon, race 7, for 3-year-old fillies. Five of the eight entrants already won stakes, but Midwest allowance winner Selenaia arrives with credentials to upset locals Paris Secret and Comanche Country.
The Santa Margarita and Honeymoon may be overlooked Saturday, when attention is focused on the third leg of the Triple Crown and an attractive Belmont Stakes undercard. By contrast, the five-runner Santa Margarita offers bettors minimal appeal.
This is no fault of Adare Manor, the lone speed and a filly bettors cannot get enough of. Adare Manor started as the odds-on favorite in seven of her 10 starts, winning four including a front-running romp last out in the Grade 2 Santa Maria.
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Bob Baffert trains Adare Manor; her rider is Juan Hernandez. Adare Manor has a score to settle with Desert Dawn, who defeated her in their only previous meeting. Others in the Santa Margarita are longshots – Kirstenbosch, Smoothlikebuttah, and Tiz a Macho Girl.
Desert Dawn finished fifth last out in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs, and though she drops to Grade 2 on Saturday, trainer Phil D’Amato acknowledged Desert Dawn’s closing style can be problematic.
“She’s definitely compromised when she doesn’t get pace to run at,” he said.
Winless in six starts since upsetting Adare Manor last year in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks, Desert Dawn has repeatedly faced top company, including a third in the Kentucky Oaks and runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar.
“We ran against Grade 1-quality horses, we didn’t duck anybody,” D’Amato said. He noted that on Saturday, “I have to beat one horse [Adare Manor] instead of eight good ones.”
Umberto Rispoli rides Desert Dawn, whose closing style was tweaked last out and could be tweaked again Saturday. D’Amato said Rispoli “did a little something different last time, he had her pretty close to the pace. He might need to do the same thing this time.”
While the Santa Margarita is likely to be won by in gate-to-wire fashion by Adare Manor, the second stakes Saturday could go any number of ways.
Eight entered the Honeymoon, in which D’Amato-trained Paris Secret will be well-backed based on her recent victory in the Grade 3 Providencia under similar conditions – 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies. It was her third start, and second in the United States.
“The longer the better with her,” D’Amato said. “A mile and an eighth is right up her alley, and I think going into Del Mar, on a little lusher turf course, she should relish that.”
Kazushi Kimura rode Paris Secret last out, Hernandez gets the mount Saturday.
D’Amato also starts Comanche Country, a two-time stakes winner dropping in class after finishing ninth in the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs. She was blocked on the far turn and into the lane under Rispoli, though the severity of her trouble is uncertain.
D’Amato said Rispoli “had nowhere to go with her. She came back like she didn’t even run. I don’t think she has any distance limitations.” The Honeymoon is her first try at 1 1/8 miles.
Tea N Conversation runs for the first time since March and makes her first start beyond a mile. Trainer Michael McCarthy said she missed spring after being sick.
“I would have loved to have something a little bit more recent than she had, but a mile and an eighth shouldn’t really be an issue,” he said.
The Honeymoon field also includes front-runners Broadway Girl and Fast and Shiny, stakes-placed Pleasant Wave, and longshot Una Palabra. But the best gamble in the race might be a lightly raced shipper from the Midwest.
Jonathan Thomas trains Selenaia, who won a maiden race in her second start last fall, then was off until May.
“We felt like getting a wintertime break [she would] be a bit of a stronger filly this year,” Thomas said.
Selenaia returned last month in an entry-level allowance mile at Horseshoe Indianapolis, as the only 3-year-old facing older fillies and mares. She saved ground, exploded late, and won clear.
“We like the idea of running her a mile and an eighth,” Thomas said. “Seeing out that extra eighth of a mile with her style and pedigree is hopefully within her wheelhouse.”
Joe Bravo rides Selenaia, who shipped Tuesday and runs Saturday as the best bet on the Santa Anita card.
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