Baze confident Blue Stripe will fire best shot in Santa Maria

Blue Stripe was racing in midpack in a field of nine fillies and mares on the backstretch of the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita on April 30 when jockey Tyler Baze urged the 5-year-old mare to run. Her rally surprised Baze, a 23-year veteran, and Blue Stripe won the Santa Margarita Stakes by a length.

“She surprised me with a turn of foot,” he said. “She got to the others easily.”

Blue Stripe won for the first time in the United States in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita, and will have her second start of 2022 in Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.

Blue Stripe, owned by Pozo de Luna Inc. and trained by Marcelo Polanco, is part of a field of six in the $200,000 Santa Maria, which will be the Argentine-bred mare’s third start in the United States. Last November, Blue Stripe finished seventh of 11 at 53-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar.

Frankie Dettori rode Blue Stripe in the BC Distaff. Baze was aboard Blue Stripe for workouts before the BC Distaff, and picked up the mount for the Santa Margarita.

“It was a great pickup,” he said.

Baze has been aboard for recent workouts, which have left him confident Blue Stripe can repeat her effort from the Santa Margarita and win the Santa Maria.

“If she is anything like she felt in that race and in the mornings, she could be any kind of horse,” he said. “She goes about her business in the right way. She does everything the way she’s supposed to. Two turns is her thing.”

Blue Stripe won three consecutive stakes in Argentina in late 2020 and early 2021 before being sent to California. Blue Stripe tends to race from a tracking position, and has an excellent chance for a good trip behind expected pacesetter Private Mission in the Santa Maria.

Private Mission was last of 11 in the BC Distaff last November after setting too quick of a pace in the first half-mile. Earlier in 2021, Private Mission won consecutive stakes in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles in the buildup to the BC Distaff. She raced near the front in the opening furlongs of those wins.

In her lone start this year, Private Mission was a well-beaten second to Edgeway in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs in March. The Santa Maria will be Private Mission’s first start around two turns since the BC Distaff.

Private Mission could have a rival for the early pace in Lady Mystify, who led in the Grade 3 Doubledogdare Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland on April 22 before fading to finish in a dead heat for third in a field of six.