ARCADIA, Calif. – The radioactive pace of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff doomed Private Mission last time out, but she finds a more hospitable spot to get her first Grade 1 win when she heads a field of seven 3-year-old fillies in the Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita. The La Brea is the last Grade 1 race for the division this year, and there’s nothing of the sort for older female sprinters in California in all of 2022, which makes this a critical race not only for Private Mission, but a number of her rivals. Otherwise, they’ll have to hit the road next year for a Grade 1 sprint for females. “Straight 3-year-olds, a Grade 1,” Richard Mandella said the other morning at Santa Anita, listing the reasons his Missy P. is heading into this race off a 5 1/2-month layoff to make her graded stakes debut. The seven-furlong La Brea, which goes as race 8 on the 11-race card, has a fascinating mix of returnees, horses trying to step up to the next level, and an obvious favorite seeking to rebound from a race that couldn’t have played out any worse. Private Mission drew the rail in the Distaff, and was committed for the lead. Unfortunately, several others had similar designs, and the hot pace – 21.84 seconds for the quarter, 44.97 for the half – was more indicative of a race going six furlongs than 1 1/8 miles. She understandably faded, and jockey Flavien Prat wisely took care of her through the lane, saving her for another day. :: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more. That day is Sunday. Private Mission returns to Santa Anita, where she’s 3 for 3, including two sprints. She scored her biggest career win here in October, when beating elders in the Grade 2 Zenyatta, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96. This is a clear class drop, going from a two-turn race against older to a sprint against fellow 3-year-olds, none of whom are as accomplished. Prat rides back. Private Mission’s trainer, Bob Baffert, also sends out Kalypso, a two-time stakes winner sprinting at Santa Anita who needed time off after bleeding in the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill Downs on April 30. John Velazquez, who has relocated here for the winter, gets the call. Like Kalypso, Missy P. is coming off a lengthy layoff caused by a medical issue. “She had tie-back surgery,” Mandella said, referring to a procedure to correct a breathing issue. Missy P. has shown she can run well fresh, based on a runaway victory in her debut in March when she earned a Beyer Figure of 90. She is light on seasoning, with only three starts. By contrast, Livingmybestlife has been patiently brought forth to this race, with victories in a pair of minor stakes – one going six furlongs at Los Alamitos and then going one mile at Del Mar – in her last two starts after five prior starts against lesser. She is 3 for 3 under Juan Hernandez, who has the call Sunday. “She won going a mile last time, so she should be pretty good at seven-eighths,” said her trainer, John Sadler. Livingmybestlife can lead or get an ideal stalking trip from the outside post. The question will be whether she’s progressed enough to beat horses of this caliber. She’s run Beyer Speed Figures in the mid- to upper 80s in her last three starts. Canoodling, a winner of four of her last five starts, all in New Mexico, arrives following the best race of her career, a 5 3/4-length victory in the six-furlong Zia Distaff in which she earned a career-best Beyer Figure of 87. Roimes Chirinos, aboard for her last five starts, is in for the ride, with regular trainer Todd Fincher shipping her in to Mike Puype. Eddie’s New Dream, a winner of two of her last three, all on turf, was cross-entered in both the La Brea and the Grade 1 American Oaks on turf, the final race on the card, but will run in the La Brea. She was second here in a pair of dirt stakes restricted to California-breds earlier this year. Brilliant Cut defeated a starter-allowance field in her last start Oct. 30 and owns a career-best Beyer figure on dirt of 76. With Hernandez on Livingmybestlife, Jose Ortiz picks up the mount.