Dream Tree tries to pick up where she left off in La Brea Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Dream Tree and Happy Like a Fool have unfinished business to complete Wednesday in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old sprint fillies on Santa Anita’s opening day.

Dream Tree was undefeated and on her way to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint until her fall campaign was suspended due to an entrapped epiglottis and minor throat surgery.

Happy Like a Fool at least made it to the Breeders’ Cup. But her campaign was always in catch-up mode, and she was still a short horse while finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Both fillies have returned to form, apparently, and enter the seven-furlong La Brea (race 6) as the only graded winners in the field. Other entrants include California-bred stakes winner Spiced Perfection, shippers Cathedral Reader and Heavenhasmynikki, allowance winner Hot Autumn, and Dream Tree’s stablemate Emboldened. Mo See Cal and Kelly’s Humor also were entered.

Under ideal conditions, Grade 1 winner Dream Tree might be a slam dunk. However, an autumn setback casts a hint of uncertainty on the 8-5 program favorite.

Dream Tree won her first four starts, including two over Midnight Bisou and two graded routes before her campaign ended in winter. She returned Sept. 2 as an improved filly. She crushed the Grade 2 Prioress at Saratoga, and that stamped her as an early favorite for the Breeders’ Cup.

Those hopes ended Oct. 26 at Santa Anita. Dream Tree worked a half-mile and made a gurgling noise while pulling up.

“We brought her back and scoped her,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “She had an entrapped epiglottis.”

The setback, though untimely, was easily corrected.

“It’s minor surgery, but you can’t do anything with them for two weeks,” Baffert said.

He set sights on the La Brea for Dream Tree, with little wiggle room.

Dream Tree resumed working Dec. 4, and since then has worked every five or six days.

“I’ve had to sort of rush her a little bit,” Baffert admitted. “I could have used an extra week.”

If the favorite is potentially vulnerable, the likely second choice is not. Happy Like a Fool merely needed time to return to form. A two-time Grade 3 winner trained by Wesley Ward, her summer campaign was interrupted by foot issues.

She had been off five months when she finished fifth in the Grade 2 TCA Stakes at Keeneland, followed by a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup.

“She was just a little short in both races,” Ward said.

On Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs, Happy Like a Fool scored a convincing victory in a third-level allowance sprint. Soon after, Ward shipped her to trainer Blake Heap in California to become accustomed to the Santa Anita surface.

“She’s in good hands,” Ward said. “She’s dead-on right now. She’s had a couple works at Santa Anita; we’re ready to go.”

Dream Tree and Hot Autumn enter as the main front-runners, while Happy Like a Fool has enough speed to establish a forward position from the inside post.

KEY CONTENDERS

Dream Tree by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 100-82-81

◗ Baffert has won the La Brea seven times.

◗ Regular rider Drayden Van Dyke regains the mount from Mike Smith while seeking his first La Brea victory.

Happy Like a Fool, by Distorted Humor
Last 3 Beyers: 93-85-88

◗ John Velazquez, who won the 2003 La Brea with Indian Blessing, is in to ride.

◗ She breaks from the inside post, which at seven furlongs has produced 13 percent (54 for 413) of the winners the past five years at Santa Anita.

Spiced Perfection, by Smiling Tiger
Last 3 Beyers: 91-85-86

◗ A plain-looking, small filly, she has won 5 of 13, all for trainer Brian Koriner, with gradually ascending speed figures.

“I haven’t made her do anything other than run in the right spots against Cal-breds,” Koriner said. “Now it’s finally time to take a shot.”

◗ Flavien Prat rides.

Emboldened, by Elusive Quality
Last 3 Beyers: 85-77-79

◗ The “other” Baffert is not a flashy work horse, which helps explain why she was 14-1 when she won the Angels Flight at Santa Anita in her most recent start in May.

“She’s a filly that has never shown much in the mornings,” Baffert said. “It’s a tough spot for her, but it’s a Grade 1. After this, we can always back into an allowance with her.”

◗ Emboldened has won two of three starts, and will be ridden by Joe Talamo.

Hot Autumn, by Tiz Wonderful
Last 3 Beyers: 88-76-73

◗ She ran the best race of her career two months ago at Santa Anita, a seven-length romp at seven furlongs.

◗Ian Kruljac trains and Tyler Baze rides the filly, who will be forwardly placed.