ARCADIA, Calif. – Even though the $100,000 Santa Ynez Stakes was postponed six days and includes the late entry of a Grade 1 winner, the season’s first dirt stakes for 3-year-old fillies in California is likely to produce a predictable result Saturday at Santa Anita. Explora, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, would be the eighth straight favorite to win the seven-furlong Santa Ynez, though the race got tougher when it was redrawn. Bottle of Rouge, the Del Mar Debutante winner, was not initially entered in the Santa Ynez when it was scheduled for Jan. 4. The card was canceled, and the extra time allowed Bottle of Rouge to join the Santa Ynez field after finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. “She worked well,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “I was disappointed in her Breeders’ Cup race. She didn’t bring her A game. We freshened her up, and eventually we want to go two turns again.” :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. Bottle of Rouge is one of three Baffert trainees in the five-runner Santa Ynez, race 3. Baffert’s entrants are Bottle of Rouge, Grade 2 winner Explora, and Grade 3 winner Himika. La Wally, a Grade 1-placed filly trained by Mark Glatt, also is entered, as is Revera, a stakes winner trained by John Sadler. The series for 3-year-old fillies will get tougher around two turns. Super Corredora, the Sadler-trained winner of the Juvenile Fillies, is targeting a Feb. 1 comeback in the one-mile Las Virgenes, followed by the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 4. Plans call for Super Corredora to skip the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel on March 1. Explora is the likely Santa Ynez favorite, just as she was in her first four starts. A debut winner and runner-up in the Del Mar Debutante, she stretched out to win the Grade 2 Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, then finished second in the Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar. Explora subsequently was entered in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs, but she did not run. “She was going to go, and she tied up a little bit the day before I [planned to] ship her,” Baffert said. Explora recovered, worked well, and has drawn the outside post in the Santa Ynez. Juan Hernandez rides. Revera benefited from the Santa Ynez redraw, moving from the rail to post 4. The same happened in fall at Del Mar. Revera drew the rail for the Desi Arnaz Stakes on Nov. 15, but the race was postponed and redrawn. Revera moved to post 4 and upset Himika. Hector Berrios rides Revera. Himika, who will be ridden by Kazushi Kimura, breaks from the rail Saturday. “She’s all speed,” Baffert acknowledged. “She a need-the-lead type. The rail is fine for her.” La Wally finished eighth in the Juvenile Fillies after racing too close to the pace under Flavien Prat. Trainer Mark Glatt believes the Grade 1-placed filly will benefit from the cutback to seven furlongs. “I think it’s a good distance for her, coming off a subpar race and having not run in a couple months,” Glatt said. Umberto Rispoli is the new rider of La Wally, who adds blinkers. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.