Itty Bitty Pretty upsets Sabatini

ARCADIA, Calif. - A clever ride by jockey Patrick Valenzuela helped propel Itty Bitty Pretty to a six-length victory, at the expense of heavily favored Sabatini, in the $109,200 for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Valenzuela kept Itty Bitty Pretty ($11) in a comfortable, stalking position just outside the early leaders, while at the same time keeping Sabatini in traffic along the rail. When the field turned into the stretch, Itty Bitty Pretty responded to Valenzuela's aggressive urging, while Sabatini could not keep up. Sabatini, the 2-5 favorite, did get up for second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Horse B With You.

I Can See, Incumbent, and Miss Fury completed the order of finish in the six-horse field. Sweet Fourty, the second choice on the morning line, was scratched earlier in the day.

Itty Bitty Pretty, the distant second choice, covered 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:44.60. The time was moderate, but was affected by the dawdling early fractions of 48.25 seconds and 1:13.31 that were set by Incumbent and Horse B With You.

"I like the way my filly kicked," Valenzuela said. "She responded. The favorite had her opportunity, but my filly kicked hard."

Doug O'Neill trains Itty Bitty Pretty for Dave and Steve Kenly's STD Racing Stable and Jason Wood. Steve Kenly said Itty Bitty Pretty is named for his young daughter, Laine.

Itty Bitty Pretty, a daughter of El Corredor, has now won twice in six starts, but the Santa Ysabel marked her first try around two turns.

"All the El Corredors seem to do better with distance," Steve Kenly said.

Patrick Biancone, the trainer of Sabatini, said his filly "was stuck inside, but otherwise had a good trip."

"She will learn something from today," he said.

Sabatini had finished third in the Hollywood Starlet in her last start.