Great Lady M winner Finest City lone horse in Ian Kruljac's barn

CYPRESS, Calif. - Finest City, the upset winner of Saturday’s $200,690 Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos, represents the entire Ian Kruljac stable.

“My other horse got claimed,” Kruljac said on Sunday morning.

This does not mean that the 27-year-old Kruljac has idle time. He primarily assists his father, Eric, who has a stable with divisions at Santa Anita and Turf Paradise.

“It’s a family business,” Ian Kruljac said.

Eric Kruljac, 53, won the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga with Leave Me Alone in 2005. Ian Kruljac had his first stakes win in the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. Finest City closed from off the pace to finish in 1:14.48, a track record in the third year the one-mile track has been used at Los Alamitos.

Finest City was the third winner of the day for Kent Desormeaux. He finished the nine-race program with four wins.

Ian Kruljac described himself as being in “shock” in the minutes after the race. “It was a dream,” he said.

Finest City, a 4-year-old filly who races for Seltzer Thoroughbreds, has won 3 of 10 starts and earned $275,594. By City Zip, Finest City has never raced beyond seven furlongs, although that is likely to change in coming months. Ian Kruljac said the next objective is to test Finest City around two turns in a stakes, on dirt or turf.

“We’ll nominate to some stakes and see what comes up,” he said. “It seems like she might get two turns the way she settled. Being by City Zip and out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare, I think she can do anything.

“We might not have found her best race.”