Edgeway will be difficult to deny in Las Flores

It took a champion to beat Edgeway in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar last fall. With any luck, Edgeway will be back in the same race at Keeneland this November.

Edgeway will have the second start of her 2022 campaign in Sunday’s Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at six furlongs for fillies and mares at Santa Anita. Edgeway will be a heavy favorite against as many as four rivals, two of which were supplemented for $2,000 when entries were taken on Thursday.

Trained by John Sadler for Hronis Racing, Edgeway won her 2022 debut against three rivals with a relatively easy win in the Kalookan Queen Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 2. The race was designed as a prep for the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes on Feb. 5, a race Edgeway missed because of a “minor setback” in January, Sadler said.

Since resuming workouts in late January, Edgeway has consistently worked fast, including five furlongs in 59.20 seconds on March 6.

“Her workout last Sunday was superb,” Sadler said. “She did it easily.”

A 5-year-old mare by Competitive Edge, Edgeway has won 6 of 10 starts, including three stakes. Her best performance was arguably a second to Ce Ce in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint last November when she was within a length of the lead in the stretch and was beaten 2 1/2 lengths. Ce Ce was named champion female sprinter of 2021.

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“It was a great race to run in, even though she ran second,” Sadler said.

With that race in recent memory, and the victory in the Kalookan Queen Stakes in January, anything less than a win in the $100,000 Las Flores Stakes will be a surprise.

“She has done really well,” Sadler said of Edgeway’s current condition.

A successful race on Sunday could lead to a start in the Grade 1 Madison Stakes, a $500,000 race at seven furlongs for fillies and mares at Keeneland on April 9, Sadler said.

The Las Flores is the first of eight races on a program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. Edgeway is one of three stakes winners in the field along with Private Mission and Dynasty of Her Own.

Private Mission poses the most significant threat to Edgeway. Trained by Bob Baffert, Private Mission won consecutive graded stakes around two turns last August and October, but was 11th in the BC Distaff after setting too quick of a pace, and a disappointing sixth of seven in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs at odds of 3-5 on Dec. 26.

Private Mission, who drew the rail in this small field, did not resume workouts until mid-February but has had a few quick exercises in recent weeks, notably five furlongs in 59 seconds on Feb. 25.

Dynasty of Her Own won consecutive allowance races at Golden Gate Fields earlier this year, but was fourth of six in the restricted Wishing Well Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on Feb. 26. She would need a career-best performance to record an upset.