Landaluce favorites will have hands full
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Peter Miller calls his current roster of 2-year-olds his “best group ever.” Trainer John Brocklebank would call it his first ever. Brocklebank is a pinhooker who skipped selling at auction this year in order to run a stable in his name.
They meet Sunday at Santa Anita in the $125,000 Landaluce Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Miss Gridley (Miller) and Sambamzajammin (Brocklebank) are top contenders among seven in the 5 1/2-furlong Landaluce, race 8. The card also includes the $125,000 Santa Anita Juvenile, race 4, which is open to both sexes.
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Miss Gridley and Sambamzajammin enter with the field’s top Beyer Speed Figures and most experience, each with two starts. But the Landaluce is deeper than the favorites. Five others will make their second start, with a license to improve.
Right There, a better-than-it-looked second in her debut, scratched from a maiden race Thursday to go in the stakes. Completing the field are Alien Giant and Faith Pacer, who each scored an impressive debut victory, Star of Munster, and She’s a Classic.
KEY CONTENDERS
RACE 8
LANDALUCE STAKES
Miss Gridley (Beyers: 75-44)
◗ Bet to favoritism while wearing blinkers first out, Miss Gridley bombed. She dueled early and caved late, finishing fifth.
“She showed a lot of speed, but not in a good way,” Miller said. “It was not relaxed speed, it was run-off speed.”
◗ For the filly’s next start, Miller removed the blinkers and added cotton in her ears. “It works on some nervous horses,” he said. “We tried it in the morning, and she seemed more relaxed.”
Miss Gridley showed speed again and kept running, winning the five-furlong race by 2 1/4 lengths.
◗ Her 75 Beyer is the second-highest this year by a juvenile filly (Storied Tale earned a 78 on April 23 at Aqueduct).
◗ Tyler Baze rides Miss Gridley, a daughter of Street Boss owned by Rockingham Ranch. She breaks from post 2.
Sambamzajammin (Beyers: 71-56)
◗ Early training for Sambamzajammin came at Dixie Downs in St. George, Utah, where Brocklebank lays the foundation for young horses. The filly shipped to Santa Anita in April for final preparation with assistant Luis Mandez. She finished second in her debut.
◗ Sambamzajammin, by Heatseeker, improved second out. She set a fast pace and won by more than three lengths over California-bred fillies.
“I believe in cranking up the intensity,” Brocklebank said. “We tend to work our horses a little harder. If they can handle it, they build on that.”
◗ Joe Talamo rides Sambamzajammin again Sunday. She drew post 7, possibly giving her a tactical edge over the inside-drawn Miss Gridley.
Right There (Beyer: 53)
◗ Right There finished a promising second in her only start. She was not quick, raced wide, and finished willingly.
Trainer Keith Desormeaux scratched her from a five-furlong maiden race Thursday to run in the 5 1/2-furlong stakes.
“She’s by Eskendereya, out of a Deputy Minister mare, which means she wants more distance,” Desormeaux said. “If you think a horse is good enough to win a $125,000 race, why run [in a maiden race] for $58,000? At this time of year, you can get away with it.”
◗ Kent Desormeaux rides Right There, who has trained super since her debut.
“The difference is the race sharpened her from the gate,” Keith Desormeaux said. “She breaks now.”