Favorites bite the dust again in La Brea as Daddysruby scores 6-1 upset

ARCADIA, Calif. – Daddysruby added another chapter to the longshot history of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes on Tuesday at Santa Anita, where she scored a front-running upset in the seven-furlong stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

While the La Brea favorite Howl dueled and cracked, Daddysruby ($14.20) used her speed to make the lead and win by a nose over Big Pond. It was four lengths back to third-place finisher Clearly Unhinged. Howl finished eighth at 1.60-1 as the record for La Brea favorites fell to 3 for 24 since 2000.

Trainer Peter Miller and jockey Juan Hernandez hoped for an outside post for Daddysruby, who entered the La Brea off a front-running win in an entry-level allowance. They got no help at the draw. Daddysruby broke from the rail in the nine-runner La Brea field.

“We knew from the inside, we’d have to go,” said Miller, whose pre-race instructions to Hernandez were simple: “If you can get the lead, take it. And he did.”

Daddysruby broke well, but was pinned inside a four-way jam through a 22.21 first quarter and 44.49 half. She shook off pace rival Howl first, then Big Pond came at her in the stretch. Daddysruby would not let her rival get by.

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“I got a little pressure, but she’s so game,” Hernandez said regarding Daddysruby. “She didn’t want to let other horses get past her. She was fighting.”

Daddysruby won by a nose in a slow final time of 1:23.06, which resulted in a modest 84 Beyer Speed Figure. After third-place finisher Clearly Unhinged, the fourth- through ninth-place finishers were Royal Spa, Fast and Shiny, Ice Dancing, Satin Down, Howl, and Bangs.

Sired by Frac Daddy, Daddysruby is owned by a partnership that includes Gary Barber, Jethorse LLC, and Wachtel Stable. She was purchased privately following her winning debut Jan. 7 on synthetic at Golden Gate Fields while trained by Tim McCanna.

“She was very impressive first time out,” Miller said. “She was a Cal-bred, the way she won [was impressive] and she had a lot of dirt in her pedigree. We figured we might have dirt, we might have turf, and we know we’ve got synthetic.”

They have a Grade 1 winner in Daddysruby, who has won on all three surfaces and has now won five races and $252,014 from six starts.

* Santa Anita announced an opening-day on-track crowd of 37,143.

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