Exuberance to find out where she belongs in Santa Anita Oaks

ARCADIA, Calif. –Way back on Super Bowl Sunday, Exuberance overcame a slow start to finish second to Dream Tree in the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old filly division in California has changed since then. Dream Tree is sidelined and Midnight Bisou has taken leadership of the group after a win in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes on March 3.

Saturday at Santa Anita, Exuberance will race against Midnight Bisou for the first time in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. The race will show owner Tyler Seltzer and trainer Ian Kruljac where Exuberance fits in California, and whether a trip to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4 is feasible.

“She seems to be improving,” Kruljac said on Wednesday. “If she runs first or second, we’ll go to Kentucky.”

Exuberance won a maiden race at a mile by 6 1/2 lengths here last October in her third start and was a well-beaten fourth behind Dream Tree in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Los Alamitos on Dec. 9. Dream Tree won without urging that day. Exuberance faded from third to finish last in a small field.

“I don’t think she liked Los Alamitos too much,” Kruljac said. “It was a more speed-favoring track. She likes the track here.”

Saturday, Midnight Bisou and Spectator, the winner of the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar last summer, will test Exuberance, who has one win in five starts and earnings of $107,200. By Archarcharch, Exuberance was purchased at Barretts March sale last year for $100,000.

Kruljac and Seltzer considered stakes around the country for Exuberance, but found formidable rivals at venues such as Fair Grounds and Keeneland.

“We decided to stay home,” Kruljac said.

Success on Saturday would be the first Grade 1 win for Kruljac and Seltzer since Finest City won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2016. She was later named champion female sprinter for that season.

The Santa Anita Oaks is one of six Thoroughbred stakes on Saturday’s program, which is led by the $1 million Santa Anita Derby.

Sassy Little Lila, third in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes on turf in March, will be part of a competitive field in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at mile on turf for fillies and mares.

The $200,000 Royal Heroine is led by Enola Gray, who has not raced since finishing winning the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes last July, and Thundering Sky, who was second in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes in February.

Richard Mandella trains Sassy Little Lila, and plans to start Retro in the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Saturday.

Retro was fourth in an optional claimer on turf on Feb. 4 and will be a longshot in the $150,000 Providencia in a field expected to include stakes winners Fatale Bere, Ms Bad Behavior, Paved, Pulpit Rider, and Treasuring.

The program includes two $200,000 stakes for California-bred 3-year-old sprinters and a $100,000 race for Arabians.