Baltas taking three shots at Providencia Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. – An additional furlong is not likely to be a problem for Lucky Girl in the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. But if it turns out 1 1/8 miles is too far, no worries. Trainer Richard Baltas has backups.
Baltas trains three of the six entered in the $100,000 Providencia, a turf race for 3-year-old fillies in which Lucky Girl is expected to start favored over stablemates Sterling Crest, the potential pacesetter, and longshot Gold Dragon Queen.
The field includes well-regarded European import Sixteen Arches, stakes winner Cairo Memories, and recent maiden winner Eleuthera. The Providencia is race 5 on the 12-race card, and Lucky Girl faces a basic question – is she as effective at nine furlongs as eight?
“I don’t think it’s a problem,” Baltas said. “With her, the key is getting her to relax. Joe [Bravo] has done a great job with her the last couple times.”
Lucky Girl was a maiden when she won the $80,000 Lady Shamrock in January, and she followed by winning the $100,000 China Doll in March. Both wins were at one mile, in both races the filly got rank, and both times Bravo made an apparently premature move.
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Turns out, Bravo knew exactly what he was doing. Lucky Girl uncorked a last-to-first move on the backstretch of the Lady Shamrock and kept on running to win by nearly two lengths. She unleashed a similar early move in the China Doll, from last to second on the backstretch, and won by three-quarters of a length.
Lucky Girl began her career in Europe and was reluctant to settle her first three U.S. starts for Baltas.
“She was very rank her first couple races, then I sent her to San Luis Rey Downs and she seemed to kind of figure it out,” Baltas said. “I think she’ll get better with experience,”
The challenge facing Lucky Girl on Saturday is to relax in a race likely to unfold at a slower tempo. Longer races typically unfold at slower splits, which makes it difficult for hard-pulling horses to settle. If Lucky Girl is not up to it, her stablemate might be.
Sterling Crest has gradually improved for Baltas, including a third behind Lucky Girl last out. Baltas prefers Sterling Crest race closer to the front.
“I think [Umberto Rispoli] has been grabbing her too much. I don’t think that’s what she wants,” Baltas said. “I think she’ll be forwardly placed. Even if she makes the lead, I don’t care.”
A shortage of pace in the Providencia could allow Rispoli and Sterling Crest to set easy fractions, get comfortable, and be gone. The third Baltas starter, Gold Dragon Queen, is a longshot.
Phil D’Amato trains Sixteen Arches, who won her only start in a seven-furlong maiden race in January in Ireland. Purchased privately afterward, Sixteen Arches is making her U.S. debut.
“She acts like distance will not be a problem,” D’Amato said. “The farther she goes, the stronger she gets in her drills.”
Juan Hernandez rides Sixteen Arches.