Freedom Flyer gets back on turf, takes on Elm Drive again

ARCADIA, Calif. – A last-minute surface switch that helped some and compromised others is a key factor Saturday at Santa Anita, where Elm Drive and Freedom Flyer try again in a filly-mare sprint scheduled for the hillside turf course.

A deep field entered the $100,000 Mizdirection, and though Freedom Flyer is no cinch, at least she will race on preferred footing. That did not happen April 8. Halfway through the Santa Anita Derby card, the final turf races moved to dirt after a horse slipped and fell in an earlier turf race.

The turf-to-dirt switch for the Grade 3 Monrovia created a dilemma for Freedom Flyer’s trainer, Leonard Powell, and owner Marsha Naify – try the turf mare on dirt, or scratch?

“Pedigree-wise, there were indications she could handle the dirt, and her morning works showed that she could handle the dirt,” Powell said. “But we were wrong. And we learned something.”

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It turns out Freedom Flyer is strictly turf. She finished next-to-last on dirt in the Monrovia, won by pace-presser Elm Drive. When they meet in the Mizdirection on turf, they are playing Freedom Flyer’s game. Her front-running hillside stakes victory in the winter gives her a license to win the Mizdirection. That assumes she is as good in May as she was in February.

“Her level of energy in the morning and recent works are on par with what she was doing through winter,” Powell said.

Juan Hernandez rides 4-for-22 Freedom Flyer in the Mizdirection.

The field includes graded turf winner Canoodling, graded dirt winner Elm Drive, comebacker Honey Pants, graded-placed Very Scary, South American Group 1 winner Una Chiquitita, and California-bred stakes winner Big Summer. Lady Jae and One Silk Stocking also entered.

Likely pacesetter Elm Drive and late-runner Honey Pants give trainer Phil D’Amato a one-two punch in the Mizdirection, while route-to-sprint Canoodling gives trainer Mike Puype a chance to win the race named after his two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection.

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Canoodling, who won a pair of Grade 3 turf miles last year, makes her third start back from a layoff. Sprinting on turf is something new.

“I think the cutback will be fine for her,” Puype said. “She’s rounding into form, and her race was good the other day.”

Canoodling set the pace in the Grade 3 Wilshire at a mile on turf and tired in the final furlong. Her fifth-place finish, beaten three lengths, marked an improved effort over her comeback loss in the off-turf Monrovia. Mike Smith rides 8-for-19 Canoodling for the first time Saturday.

“Mike will fit her well,” Puype said. “He can make his choice where he wants to lay in the race, and she’s shown she can run without the lead. It’s a good spot.”

It’s a perfect spot for Canoodling, who should be forwardly placed behind Elm Drive.

Big Summer is another hillside course specialist, having won a California-bred stakes in January before finishing second to Freedom Flyer and Elm Drive. Very Scary finished third in successive Grade 3 turf miles and also figures.

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