Jolie Olimpica back at proven distance in Monrovia

The disruption of racing at Santa Anita for nearly two months this spring kept the highly promising turf mare Jolie Olimpica from running in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at a mile on turf on April 4. Instead, she will return to sprinting in Monday’s Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

The Royal Heroine Stakes was canceled when Santa Anita was closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Racing resumed May 15, and the Monrovia Stakes has been deemed a suitable alternative for Jolie Olimpica, who races for Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm and trainer Richard Mandella.

The $200,000 purse of the Monrovia is equal to the value of what would have been offered in the Royal Heroine.

Jolie Olimpica won the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes in her American debut Jan. 11, setting a course record of 1:01 for 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. Six weeks later, Jolie Olimpica was second by a half-length at 3-5 in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf, the first loss of her five-race career.

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For her first start in three months on Monday, Mandella said the sprint distance of the Monrovia is a good fit for Jolie Olimpica, a 4-year-old Brazilian-bred mare by Drosselmeyer.

“The Monrovia is a nice purse, a good race, so we’ll go back and try to do what we did already,” Mandella said earlier this week.

Jolie Olimpica set the pace in the Las Cienegas and again in the Buena Vista. She yielded the lead to Keeper ofthe Stars in the final sixteenth of the Buena Vista.

“She ran a good race,” Mandella said. “She didn’t settle as well as I thought she would have. She’ll get better.”

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Mandella said Jolie Olimpica is adjusting to “American-style” racing, which should be a concern to anyone associated with her rivals. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith keeps the mount on Jolie Olimpica.

The projected field includes Just Grazed Me, who won the Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf last November, and Ginger Nut, a stakes winner at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Keeneland in April 2019.

Earlier this year, Just Grazed Me was second at 1-2 to Stealthediamonds in the Sunshine Million Filly and Mare Turf Sprint for California-breds at 5 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 18, and fourth against statebred males in the Sensational Star Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf March 22, the final day racing was held before the interruption.

Just Grazed Me was as far as six lengths off the pace in the Sensational Star, too far back from trainer Phil D’Amato’s perspective.

“I wanted her in a better position,” he said. “She can be on or near the lead.”

Stealthediamonds, second in the Sensational Star, has good credentials for the Monrovia. Other expected runners are the stakes winners Oleksandra and Surrender Now.

– additional reporting by Brad Free