D'Amato pair formidable in California Distaff
Trainer Phil D’Amato’s uncharacteristically slow start to the fall meet at Santa Anita may pick up Saturday with the $100,000 California Distaff Handicap, where he has the fleet Enola Gray and the turf-sprint specialist Long Hot Summer.
Those two fillies are 40 percent of the five-horse field. Factor in their likely prices – they should be the top two choices in the betting – and D’Amato’s chances of winning increase.
Long Hot Summer is the proven commodity in this hillside turf sprint at about 6 1/2 furlongs for California-bred females. She has never finished out of the money in turf sprints and owns two wins and a second over this unique course, including a victory against males in a second-level allowance in May. After facing open company in recent starts, she’s moving to a California-bred race.
“She loves the hill,” D’Amato said Thursday. “She’s beaten the boys down the hill. I envision her being a graded stakes winner down the hill. She’s a stalker, a closer. Their styles shouldn’t hinder one another.”
Enola Gray has sharp early speed and is the one to catch. She won her first three starts, all against California-breds, before finishing second at 1-5 in the Beverly J. Lewis Stakes at Los Alamitos last time out in her first start against open company. She’s back in statebred ranks for this race, her first on turf.
“She’s by Grazen,” D’Amato said, referring to her sire, a son of Benchmark, “and is out of a More Than Ready mare, so top and bottom she should handle grass.”
D’Amato said the small field, plus moving Enola Gray to subsequent starts at Del Mar and, he envisions, the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, make this attractive.
Desert Steel, Home Journey, and Out Ofthe Ordinary complete the field.
Because of the small field, the California Distaff is being kept out of the pick six. It goes as race 3 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.
KEY CONTENDERS
Long Hot Summer, by Street Boss
Last 3 Beyers: 94-93-77
◗ She closed sharply to win a five-furlong turf sprint at Del Mar last out. The extra distance of this race plays to her style.
◗ She carries the top weight of 125 pounds, conceding three to eight pounds.
Enola Gray, by Grazen
Last 3 Beyers: 82-100-94
◗ She scored runaway wins in her first three starts before her defeat last time. The tactics of Home Journey are pivotal to whether she gets loose on the lead.
Home Journey, by Good Journey
Last 3 Beyers: 89-90-88
◗ A consistent performer in these California-bred female turf sprints, she switches to Mike Smith, who will have to choose how early to use this mare’s speed to engage Enola Gray. They are drawn outside of Enola Gray, which is an advantage.