Always At Ease back for NoCal encore in Golden Gate Debutante

Always At Ease is a happy filly this fall, which was not the case earlier this year.

Trained by Keith Desormeaux, Always At Ease lost her first three starts at Del Mar and Santa Anita before winning a maiden special weight race at Golden Gate Fields in her fourth start on Oct. 29.

The maiden win has led to a repeat appearance in Northern California for Always At Ease in Friday’s $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs.

“Mentally, she felt apart on me,” Desormeaux said. “She got a little nervous and got a little rattled. She’s really come around. We backed off and worked on her.

“That is the biggest reason she pulled off a win, more than she ran up north.”

A $400,000 purchase at a 2-year-olds in training sale in April, Always At Ease closed from seventh in a field of eight to win the maiden race by 1 1/4 lengths. The same running style could be effective in the Debutante.

Runners such as Imaginary and Rousing Jewel, and possibly Ketanji, are likely to be near the front, giving jockey Armando Ayuso a pace to follow on Always At Ease.

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Desormeaux trains Always At Ease for Ben Gase and said the Debutante is ideal for a potential stakes win in what is likely to be the filly’s final start of the year. The Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Jan. 1 at Santa Anita is another goal.

“If we can get this done, that would be the next step,” Desormeaux said of the $200,000 Santa Ynez.

Rousing Jewel was the convincing winner of a maiden special weight race by three lengths in her debut May 7, but has lost her last two starts, including a second to Majestic Oops at odds of 3-10 in an optional claimer Sept. 23.

Rousing Jewel broke slowly on Sept. 23 and can play a leading role in this field with a better start.

Aside from Always At Ease, four other fillies will have their stakes debut in the Debutante, including the two-time winner Majestic Oops.

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Trained by Ed Moger, Jr., Majestic Oops is a stalker who won a maiden special weight race at Sacramento in her third start in July and the Sept. 23 race at 5 1/2 furlongs in which she was eligible to be claimed for $50,000.

“She’ll run her race,” Moger said. “I think she can win the way she has been running, maybe.”

Trainer Jonathan Wong has three runners – Imaginary, Ketanji, and Sally’s Sassy.

Imaginary and Ketanji were debut winners in October and will have their second starts in the Debutante. Sally’s Sassy was a well-beaten third in the Pike Place Dancer Stakes at a mile on turf on Oct. 29, her third career start.

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