Look for Mokat in Buena Vista, but not till the stretch

ARCADIA, Calif. – There will be no cause for panic if Mokat is toward the back of the field in the first half-mile of Saturday’s Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita.

“She doesn’t like to be too close,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “I know she wants to be more out of it.”

Mokat finished last of 12 in the Grade 1 American Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on turf against 3-year-old fillies here on Dec. 31. She surprised Baltas by being as close as third with a quarter-mile remaining and faded from contention in the final furlong.

“She had a wide trip that day,” he said.

Mokat will have her first start against older fillies and mares in the $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile on turf. Baltas is hopeful that Mokat can repeat her effort from the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at a mile on turf at Del Mar last summer, when she closed from eighth in a field of 10 to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

The San Clemente is Mokat’s only stakes win in 12 starts.

The Buena Vista is the leading race at Santa Anita next weekend. Sunday’s main race is the $100,000 Spring Fever Handicap for California-bred fillies and mares at six furlongs. There is racing on Monday, Presidents Day, led by the $75,000 Baffle Stakes for 3-year-olds on the hillside turf course.

Baltas also plans to start Hillhouse High in the Buena Vista. Hillhouse High was third in the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes here in early November and has not raced since.

Other candidates are Do the Dance, Evo Campo, Juno, Pretty Girl, Prize Exhibit, and Wild at Heart.

Juno, a Group 1 winner in Brazil in 2015, was recently transferred from trainer Richard Mandella to Neil Drysdale, according to racing office records.

◗ Big Hit, who finished third in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 7, is out of training with an undisclosed injury. Trainer Phil D’Amato said last week that Big Hit will be aimed for races “in the latter half of the year.”

Owned by Gary and Mary West, Big Hit won a maiden race at Del Mar on Nov. 19. In the Sham Stakes, Big Hit was beaten 13 lengths by Gormley.