Mandella, Sadler fillies will avoid Songbird in Chandelier
ARCADIA, Calif. – Songbird, the impressive winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Sept. 5, has scared away a few rivals for Saturday’s $300,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.
On Wednesday, trainers Richard Mandella and John Sadler indicated that fillies from their barns would skip the Chandelier in favor of the $70,000 Anoakia Stakes at six furlongs Oct. 11.
Mandella said Lucky Folie, the winner of a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs in her debut at Del Mar on Sept. 6, is not ready for the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes, which is run at 1 1/16 miles.
“She doesn’t have any experience,” Mandella said. “She’s run once, and to stretch her out from 5 1/2 furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth, I don’t think that would be a good deal.”
He said the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 10 is another possibility.
Uptown Twirl was fifth in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 12 in her stakes debut. She has worked steadily in recent weeks at Del Mar and Santa Anita and will stay in sprints.
“I don’t want to stretch her out now,” Sadler said.
Songbird will be a heavy favorite in the Chandelier Stakes, which is expected to include Jade Princess, Land Over Sea, Right There, Sheeza Milky Way, Vieja Luna, and Yodelsong. Trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday that he might enter Pretty N Cool, who was second in the Del Mar Debutante, but that she is doubtful to start.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Songbird. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is 20-8-3-2 with a $2.09 ROI over the past five years with 2-year-olds going a route for the first time following a win. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Land Over Sea was third in the Del Mar Debutante.
The Chandelier is one of five preps for Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday’s 11-race program. The winners of the five races earn automatic berths in Breeders’ Cup races at Keeneland on Oct. 30 and 31. The Chandelier winner earns a fees-paid berth for the BC Juvenile Fillies if nominated to the Breeders’ Cup program.
Hard Aces, the winner of the Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June, starts in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, a prep for the BC Classic. Beholder will be a heavy favorite in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. The winner receives a berth in the BC Distaff.
Nyquist, the winner of the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7, is the top contender for the $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes, which leads to the BC Juvenile. Hard Not to Like, the New York-based mare who won the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes here in May and the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga in July, will run in the $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf.
The winner of the Rodeo Drive receives a berth in the BC Filly and Mare Turf.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Pretty N Cool. Trainer Bob Baffert is 16-5-2-1 with a $3.90 ROI over the past five years with 2-year-olds going a route for the first time in graded stakes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan