European filly Living the Life coming to California

ARCADIA, Calif. - Living the Life, the winner of Friday’s $252,000 All-Weather Championship Fillies and Mares Condition Stakes at Lingfield, England, is set to join trainer Gary Mandella’s stable at Santa Anita in the next week.

Mandella said over the weekend that Living the Life is expected to be released from quarantine by Friday and that the 4-year-old filly will be pointed for the Del Mar meeting this summer.

Living the Life races for Henry Nothhaft, who has horses with Mandella and has recently started racing in England.

Living the Life (8-1) won the Fillies and Mares Championship over seven furlongs by 3 1/2 lengths over High Time Too, a 3-1 co-favorite. The race was run on Lingfield’s Polytrack synthetic surface.

By Footstepsinthesand, Living the Life has won 5 of 19 starts. The Fillies and Mares Championship was the richest win of her career.

Mandella said the maiden Halljoy, who was third in the Group 3 Prestige Stakes at Goodwood, England, last August, will also be joining his stable.

The Lingfield program featured six races worth $250,000 or more. The day’s top race, the $332,250 All-Weather Middle Distance Championship was won by Grandeur, who won two Grade 2 races in California in 2012 – the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita and the Hollywood Turf Cup at Hollywood Park.

In the Middle Distance Championship, Grandeur, the 3-2 favorite, won a stretch-long duel with 7-1 Dick Doughtywylie to win the race over 1 1/4 miles by a head.

Grandeur races for Yvonne Jacques and trainer Jeremy Noseda. Last fall, Grandeur was sent to California for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but did not start after contracting an illness.

Noseda said after Friday’s race that Grandeur could run at Belmont Park this spring, with the $400,000 Man o’ War Stakes over 1 3/8 miles on turf on May 11 and the $1 million Manhattan Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf on June 7 as possibilities.