Allowance and maiden sprints have chalky look

ARCADIA, Calif. – Three diverse sprint races Friday at Santa Anita share a common denominator – conspicuous favorites.

Doris Mae should wire race 4, a dirt allowance for Cal-bred fillies and mares; Spain Moonlight, a well-regarded import from France, makes her U.S. debut in race 5 for maiden turf fillies and mares; Howbeit, a graded stakes winner, runs for a $100,000 tag in race 8, an allowance sprint on dirt.

Those three – Doris Mae, Spain Moonlight, and Howbeit – should be among the most well-fancied runners Friday on a nine-race card that precedes the Saturday six-stakes program, which includes the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

Race 4 favorite Doris Mae looks formidable on Friday, dropping from third- and fourth-place finishes in stakes.

“I knew it was ambitious,” trainer Carla Gaines acknowledged, “but she hasn’t done badly, has she?”

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Not at all. A maiden winner on dirt and a Cal-bred allowance winner on turf, Doris Mae finished third in a Grade 3 in December. Owned and bred by Richard Barton, the Dads Caps filly is expected to set the pace under Juan Hernandez.

“She wants to be in command,” Gaines said.

It’s a good place to be running six furlongs on dirt – 11 of the last 20 races were won by the pacesetter. Rivals for Doris Mae include pace-presser Big Shamrock and late-runner Vella.

Spain Moonlight and stablemate Sweet Trouble are key entrants in race 5, the six-furlong maiden turf sprint. Spain Moonlight finished third and second against maidens in her two races last year in France, including in a 16-runner field at Deauville. Trainer Phil D’Amato believes she is ready for her U.S. debut.

“She’s trained very well in the mornings,” he said. “I think she’s plenty fit.”

Hernandez rides Spain Moonlight. Umberto Rispoli rides Sweet Trouble, who moves to grass after four starts on dirt, including three in-the-money finishes against maidens.

“We always wanted to try [Sweet Trouble] on the grass,” D’Amato said.

Sweet Trouble is by Into Mischief; her dam won a turf allowance and placed in a Grade 3 turf mile. D’Amato could run one-two, though the Neil Drysdale-trained Irish Rose finished a promising second in her career debut and enters as a contender.

Race 8 is a second-level allowance/optional-claiming sprint. Graded stakes winner Howbeit enters for the $100,000 tag following a pair of fourth-place finishes in Grade 3 sprints.

“He hasn’t been able to quite cut the mustard here of late, so what else am I going to do?” trainer Mark Glatt said.

What he did was enter Howbeit in a realistic spot. A 6-year-old who won the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October, Howbeit has paid his way. Since he was claimed for $32,000 in winter 2021, Howbeit has earned $271,210 and won 3 of 13 starts.

Seven-pound apprentice Armando Aguilar rides Howbeit, whose rivals include comebacker Colt Fiction, a stakes-placed 8-year-old comebacker also entered for the $100,000 optional claiming tag. D’Amato is the new trainer for Colt Fiction, who has not raced since January 2022. The others in the six-furlong race are likely pacesetter Sunrise Journey, graded stakes-placed closer Tigre Di Slugo, Red Flag, and Mastering.

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