Innovative back to two turns in Autumn Miss after sprint upset
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Longshot filly Innovative got lucky last out, winning a graded sprint stakes she was not expected to win. Take A Breath was the exact opposite. The favorite in an allowance race, Take A Breath finished last with a disastrous trip.
They meet Sunday at Santa Anita, and while expectations are high for Innovative, Take A Breath is just looking for clear sailing. The graded stakes winner and the allowance also-ran top the Grade 3 Autumn Miss, a turf mile for 3-year-old fillies on closing day of the autumn meet.
The nine-runner Autumn Miss includes Warming, who stretches out from a third in a sprint; Slick, who scored an impressive allowance win; and Lee’s Baby Girl, the likely pacesetter. Precise Timing, A Thousand Miles, Firenze Flavor, and Wink and a Grin also are entered.
For the first time in her 3-for-8 career, Innovative is likely to start favored in the Autumn Miss. The closing-day Autumn Miss was the objective even before trainer Phil D’Amato entered Innovative in the Grade 3 John C. Harris, a hillside sprint on Sept. 27.
“I know she’s more effective around two turns, we were definitely using [the Harris] as a prep for the Autumn Miss,” D’Amato said. “So far, so good. She’s just getting better and better.”
Innovative scored a $27.40 upset in the Harris, winning by a neck under jockey Ricky Gonzalez. It was the filly’s third win from her last four starts, and more impressive considering it was the first sprint of her career. Innovative returns to her preferred two-turn distance Sunday.
D’Amato also entered Slick, a troubled sixth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and sharp allowance winner last out. Slick was imported from Europe in late 2024 and won a Santa Anita maiden race like a filly who would make noise in the turf filly division in 2025.
“She broke her maiden like a stakes horse, then we had to give her some time, and now she’s rounding into form,” D’Amato said.
Slick finished third in her Del Mar comeback, had a tough trip finishing sixth by two lengths in the Del Mar Oaks, then switched to jockey Umberto Rispoli and scored a sharp win in an entry-level allowance.
“She came out of that allowance win as good, if not better” than before, D’Amato said. “She’s a filly on the improve.”
Rispoli retains the mount on Slick, who has won 2 of 7.
Take A Breath will hope for better fortune. Mark Glatt trains the import from England, who ran well finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in her U.S. debut. Next time out, Take A Breath was the 1.90-1 favorite in an entry-level allowance at Santa Anita.
She rallied inside, took up sharply when she got sawed off at the eighth pole, and finished last. Take A Breath sustained a deep cut that required sutures but otherwise “got through it without any real issues,” Glatt said. “I think she got very lucky.”
Hector Berrios retains the mount on Take A Breath, who has won 3 of 9.
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