Aussie import Kalatiara takes Royal Heroine

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kalatiara, an Australian import, gave trainer Ron McAnally and jockey Chris McCarron their second stakes win apiece on Saturday at Hollywood Park in the $109,900 Royal Heroine Stakes.

Making her United States debut, Kalatiara ($11.20) ran a mile on turf in 1:34.41 for her eighth win in 12 starts. In Australia, Kalatiara won seven consecutive races, including the 2000 Western Australian Guineas.

During her winning streak, the 4-year-old Kalatiara won on the lead and from a tracking position. McCarron used the latter tactic in the Grade 3 Royal Heroine.

"She gets in the race real well when you ask her to, and she showed that today," McCarron said.

McCarron kept Kalatiara in mid-pack to the final turn when she rallied wide to challenge 2-1 favorite Dianehill, who had overtaken pacesetter Southern House. Kalatiara took the lead in the final sixteenth and won by a head over Dianehill. Al Desima finished third in the field of seven.

Earlier in the day, McCarron won the Landaluce Stakes with Georgia's Storm for trainer Eduardo Inda, and McAnally won the $100,000 Bel Air Handicap with Smile Again, who was ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr.

Smile Again gets graded win

Smile Again needed five tries, but he won his first graded stakes in the Grade 2 Bel Air Handicap.

Upsetting two graded stakes winners who were making comebacks - Freedom Crest and Out of Mind - Smile Again led or disputed the lead with Lesters Boy for six furlongs. Turning for home, Smile Again led by 1 1/2 lengths and he held off a late rally from Freedom Crest to win by a neck. Dig for It finished third, followed by Out of Mind, Penamacor, and Lesters Boy.

Smile Again ($19.20) finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.74.

"My horse didn't lose his stride," Pincay said. "He just kept coming back."

Owned by Sid and Jenny Craig, Smile Again won his second stakes in the Bel Air, 19 months after he won the 1999 Forty Niner Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.

Prior to Saturday, Smile Again's best finish in a graded stakes was a second in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Handicap at Keeneland in 1999. Later that year, he was acquired by the Craigs to run in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, in which he finished sixth.

Georgia's Storm never looks back

A fast start helped Georgia's Storm win Saturday's Grade 3 Landaluce Stakes.

Breaking from the outside in the field of seven 2-year-old fillies, Georgia's Storm quickly angled over to the inside. She led by a length around the turn and was never seriously threatened, winning by 1 1/4 lengths.

Owned by Reinaldo Martinez, Georgia's Storm finished six furlongs in 1:10.45.

"She breaks so good every time," Inda said. "I've always known she's good from the gate. She ran super."

Respectful, who was third in the Cinderella Stakes, finished second in the Landaluce, 3 1/2 lengths in front of Who Loves Aleyna. Miss Jeanne Cat, a stakes winner at Bay Meadows on June 9, finished fourth, and was followed by Roaring Blaze, Ile de France, and Siphina.

The Landaluce Stakes was Georgia's Storm's second stakes win, coming a month after she won the Cinderella Stakes. A California-bred, Georgia's Storm's victory in the Landaluce marked the first graded stakes winner for her freshman sire, Illinois Storm.