Ascendancy looks to strike while hot in She's a Tiger Stakes
With a little luck, Ascendancy would start in Saturday’s $75,000 She’s a Tiger Stakes at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., on a three-race winning streak.
Ascendancy approaches the race on the strength of consecutive wins in allowance races at Golden Gate Fields on turf on May 20 and the synthetic main track on June 2. On April 29, Ascendancy finished a fast-closing sixth, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths, in the Golden Poppy Stakes on turf despite a wide trip.
“In that race she had a little bit of a rough trip,” co-owner and trainer O.J. Jauregui said Wednesday. “I don’t know if we were going to win, but she could have been a lot closer.”
Ascendancy’s last three starts have given Jauregui confidence that the 4-year-old filly will be competitive in the She’s a Tiger Stakes, which is run at 1 1/16 miles and drew a field of eight fillies and mares.
“Going two turns, we’ve got her going and she started winning pretty nicely,” he said. “I think she’s getting better and better.”
Jauregui’s only concern on Saturday is whether Ascendancy can be effective in her third start in five weeks.
“I feel I’m running back a little quick, but the chances are limited,” he said. “I think I should take a shot.”
Alexander Chavez, who rode Ascendancy to the two recent wins at Golden Gate Fields, has the mount on a filly who runs from off the pace.
The She’s a Tiger Stakes field includes two stakes winners – Tam’s Little Angel, who won the 2022 running of the race, but has lost her last nine starts; and Anthonys Cleopatra, who is winless in six starts since the California Oaks at Golden Gate Fields in April 2022.
Anthonys Cleopatra was eighth as the 9-5 favorite in the 2022 She’s a Tiger Stakes after a poor start. Anthonys Cleopatra and Tam’s Little Angel were second and third behind Ascendancy in the allowance race on June 2 at Golden Gate Fields.
The She’s a Tiger Stakes will be the Northern California debut of Smoothlikebuttah, who has finished a well-beaten fourth in two Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita in her last two starts – the Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on April 29 and the Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on June 10.
Trained by Steve Knapp, the 5-year-old Smoothlikebuttah won an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita in March, her lone victory in five starts this year and the third win of her now 40-race career.
The She’s a Tiger Stakes is the first of five Thoroughbred stakes during the four-week meeting at Pleasanton, which concludes July 9 with the first running of the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile.
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