Hollywood Park: Tanda lands in softer spot for Redondo Beach

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – If it’s not one thing with Tanda, it is something else. A chipped ankle ended her 2010 campaign; foot trouble stalled her 2011 return; a troubled trip cost her any chance two weeks ago.

And still, Tanda marches forward. Sunday at Hollywood Park, the 4-year-old Tanda drops in class and switches surfaces in the $70,000 Redondo Beach for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

“We’ll try to get a good mile race in her, and see where we’re at,” trainer Dan Hendricks said.

He hopes Tanda is at the same level as last year, when she ranked among the top 3-year-old fillies in the country.

She won successive Grade 3 sprints in California, and then finished a troubled third in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont. Tanda chipped an ankle in that race and missed the second half of the year. Two starts into her 2011 campaign, Hendricks is unsure where Tanda belongs.

“She got nothing and we learned nothing from the last race,” Hendricks said. “She got a little strong; they shut her off on the backside, and really took her out of her race. It was over from there on.”

The race was the Grade 2 Milady, an ambitious spot for a filly making her second start following a long layoff. After facing St Trinians and Ultra Blend in the Milady, 4-for-9 Tanda drops into a listed turf race Sunday.

The Redondo Beach includes Andina, Lilly Fa Pootz, Miss Pleasant, Talktoomuch, Wild Mia, and First Settler. Though graded stakes-placed Lilly Fa Pootz has speed, and Miss Pleasant occasionally falls into the lead, Tanda is intrinsically quicker than either.

The pace dilemma is significant, because speed has been effective in one-mile turf races. Through the 26th day of racing Thursday, 10 of 24 mile turf races had been won by the pacesetter.

Lilly Fa Pootz will start as one of the favorites while dropping from a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Wilshire that was won by subsequent Grade 1 Gamely winner Dubawi Heights. Lilly Fa Pootz has won 8 of 36.

Miss Pleasant, 3 for 8, finished a nose behind Lilly Fa Pootz last time. First Settler was supplemented to the Redondo Beach, while Talktoomuch starts for leading trainer Mike Mitchell.

Talktoomuch, 9 for 35, had no shot last time in the Wilshire after breaking from an outside post in a race with no pace. Wild Mia makes her first start in California.