Elm Drive finds Monrovia's switch to dirt to her liking
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ARCADIA, Calif. – The Monrovia Stakes for filly-mare sprinters Saturday at Santa Anita would have been a surface-switch experiment for at least one graded winner trained by Phil D’Amato, but it was still a surprise.
Santa Anita management deemed the turf course unsuitable for racing after a horse slipped and lost his rider in the fifth race. The final three turf races Saturday switched to the main track, including the Monrovia.
It helped Elm Drive ($17.20), a graded stakes-winning dirt filly who had never raced on turf. The dirt specialist raced inside, cut the corner, and won the 6 1/2-furlong race by three-quarters of a length over Big Summer. Kirstenbosch rallied to finish third; heavily favored Awake At Midnyte finished fourth.
The turf-to-dirt switch compromised turf specialist Leggs Galore, a graded winner making the final start of her career. Leggs Galore set the pace, backed up on the turn and finished last of seven. She leaves Monday for Kentucky to be bred to Into Mischief.
D’Amato was eager to start Elm Drive on either surface. “She was training great on the training track, so we were encouraged to try the grass,” he said. “The dirt definitely didn’t hurt.”
Elm Drive was making her first start since September, having scratched from a Grade 3 dirt sprint March 25 due to a foot issue. She recovered, trained well, and scored her third stakes win Saturday with a rail trip under Ramon Vazquez. Elm Drive pressed the pace inside, dueled with Leggs Galore on the turn, inched to the lead and won in 1:15.56.
While the win by Elm Drive was joyful for owner Little Red Feather, the owner of Leggs Galore was puzzled at the surface change for the Monrovia. “It’s hard to do business here,” Jack Sims said referring to Santa Anita. “Everything changes at this place every time you come.”
Leggs Galore, a 6-year-old by Bayern, retries with nine wins from 19 starts, and earnings of $694,548.
Elm Drive, winner of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes for juvenile fillies in 2021 at Del Mar, has won four races from nine starts and earned $348,1140. She will stay in training.
Because the Monrovia was run on a surface different from its scheduled surface, the race automatically loses its Grade 3 status. The graded stakes committee will review the race and could reestablish its graded status.
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