Chillingworth first stakes on opening day

ARCADIA, Calif. – The first stakes race opening day of the Santa Anita fall meet could have been relevant if the field included the top older female sprinters in California.

However, Sneaking Out’s trainer is barred from Santa Anita and Bellafina regressed so badly last out that her status for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint is dubious. Neither entered the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes, race 6 on Friday.

The absence of the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Sneaking Out and Simon Callaghan-trained Bellafina is likely to extend a drought – BC Filly and Mare Sprint starters whose last start was fall at Santa Anita are 0 for 25 since the first Filly and Mare Sprint in 2007.

The seven Chillingworth entrants fall short of Breeders’ Cup caliber. None has won a graded stakes race, and most earn Beyers in the mid to upper 80’s, including likely top choices Qahira and graded-placed Amuse.

The 6 1/2-furlong Chillingworth, formerly the L.A. Woman, was renamed this year to honor the late Sherwood Chillingworth, longtime director and executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Association.

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Qahira returned from a layoff last month to wire an allowance field at Del Mar. “It wasn’t a really tough race,” trainer Bob Baffert noted. Neither is the Chillingworth, and Qahira could make the lead against a field void of serious heat. Qahira, whose rider is Luis Saez, is 4 for 4 sprinting on fast tracks.

Baffert also starts Message, though cutting the route specialist back in distance is not ideal. “There’s nowhere else to go. I don’t want to run her against Fighting Mad,” Baffert said. Fighting Mad runs Sunday in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth.

Message scored a dead-heat stakes win last out racing one mile at Del Mar. Flavien Prat rides Message, whose inside post presents a challenge. She has won 3 of 10.

Amuse is the class of the field after hitting the board in two graded stakes this summer on dirt. “She’s a big, sweet mare,” Richard Mandella said. “She’s a sister to Bombard. They’re both very kind horses.” Bombard recently finished second in the Grade 3 Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs; Mandella will target the BC Turf Sprint for his next start.

The other Chillingworth entrants are Into Chocolate, Mucho Amor, Hang a Star, and Unique Factor.

As for Bellafina, she finished next to last early this month at Churchill Downs, a track she dislikes. Callaghan did not rule out the Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland. “We’ll see how she trains, take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup depending on how she’s training.”

Sneaking Out, a graded winner this summer at Los Alamitos and Del Mar, is nominated to the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes on Oct. 3 at Keeneland.