Havanna Belle could offer value if she avoids trouble in Astra
ARCADIA, Calif. – The $75,000 Astra Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita offers bettors a choice – wager on the most likely winner, or back the most likely overlay?
Nancy From Nairobi could be favored in the 1 1/2-mile turf race for older fillies and mares. If she improves off her solid U.S. debut, a runner-up finish racing one mile on turf, the English import could be tough to beat. The knock is price. Her odds figure to be low.
Meanwhile, trouble-prone Havanna Belle offers longshot potential. Her alibi for finishing eighth last out is legitimate. Blocked most of the stretch, she lost the mile race by seven lengths. Perhaps the marathon distance Sunday is out of reach, but her odds could be tempting.
Nancy From Nairobi and Havanna Belle are two of the many contenders in the Astra, named for the 11-for-16 millionaire grass mare who won four Grade 1 races, all for trainer Laura de Seroux and owner-breeder Allen Paulson from 2000 to 2002.
The field also includes comebacker Gaga A, a marathon specialist who runs well fresh, and dropper Fresh Feline. The others entered are More Than Less, Generosidade, Energia Fribby, Princess Charm, and Sweet as a Rose.
The Astra is race 7 on a nine-race card.
KEY CONTENDERS
Nancy From Nairobi (Beyer: 83)
◗ John Sadler trains the 5-year-old mare for Hronis Racing, which purchased her last year in Europe on Sadler’s recommendation. Sadler said: “She doesn’t have top-class [European] form, but I saw some good horses on her form. It looks like distance is no problem.”
◗ Nancy From Nairobi won 2 of 17 starts overseas, and has made 15 starts at distances of 1 1/4 miles or more. In her U.S. debut, she ran second in a second-level optional claimer at one mile. She was squeezed and away next to last, raced wide, and finished evenly.
◗ She will be ridden again by Abel Lezcano, whose most recent stakes win was Sept. 16 at Kentucky Downs on 50-1 outsider Kalamos.
Havanna Belle (Last 3 Beyers: 74-84-84)
◗ She was bred and raced in Ireland before beginning her U.S. career in February 2015 for trainer Phil D’Amato. Havanna Belle is 1 for 7 in the U.S. and repeatedly compromised by trouble, much of it self-caused.
◗ Havanna Belle broke slowly in 4 of 7 starts in California. Last out, in the same race as Nancy From Nairobi, Havanna Belle was blocked the length of the lane, seemingly with run, and finished eighth of 10.
◗ Brice Blanc takes over on Havanna Belle.
Gaga A (Beyers: 92-91)
◗ Unraced since July, Gaga A won her U.S. debut last spring while returning from a seven-month layoff. That was a 1 1/2-mile turf marathon similar to the Astra.
◗ Neil Drysdale trains Gaga A, who will be ridden by Tyler Baze.
Fresh Feline (Last 3 Beyers: 85-87-82)
◗ Seventh last out in a Grade 3 race, Fresh Feline drops in class and stretches out from 1 1/8 miles.
◗ John Shirreffs trains the mare; Flavien Prat is named to ride.