Marathon distance will test Astra contenders

ARCADIA, Calif. – A local mare looking for a better trip and a Northern California shipper on a road trip are key entrants Saturday in an evenly matched edition of the $100,000 Astra Stakes at Santa Anita.

Warrens Candy Girl was compromised by a dawdling pace and severe traffic finishing a better-than-looked fifth against tougher last out. If the late-runner stays the marathon distance, she may upset the filly-mare stakes. Warrens Candy Girl, who won a California-bred stakes at Del Mar last summer, has never tried the Astra distance of 1 1/2 miles.

“She gives every appearance she can handle it,” trainer Craig Lewis said. “She’s a big, strong, powerful filly, and when things come up her way, she delivers.”

Well, sometimes. A 5-year-old by Clubhouse Ride, Warrens Candy Girl has won 4 of 19 for owner-breeders Ben and Sally Warren.

Tiz an Edventure is less imposing, but more successful based on number of wins. Jack Steiner trains the 9-for-17 mare in Northern California, where she has won 6 of 7 since Steiner and owner Randy Marriot claimed her last spring for $25,000. Since the claim, she has earned nearly $120,000.

“We didn’t claim her off looks, because she’s a skinny thing,” Steiner said. “But she just floats over the ground.”

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Apparently, any ground will do. In her last five starts, Tiz an Edventure has won on dirt, turf, and synthetic.

Steiner and Tiz an Edventure were scheduled to drive Friday from Golden Gate Fields for a rare trip to Santa Anita. Steiner’s last Santa Anita starter was in 2006. If the 5-year-old Tiz an Edventure reproduces her last-start stakes win, she could be the trainer’s first Santa Anita winner. The mare has never raced beyond 1 1/16 miles, but Steiner reasons she will stay 1 1/2 miles.

In the Golden Gate test barn after her decisive win last out in the 1 1/16-mile Miss America Stakes, Steiner noticed an also-ran that his mare had defeated. “She was huffing and puffing, and then I look at Tiz, and she couldn’t blow out a match. I thought, what does it take to make her tired? Maybe she can run all day.”

If she can, Tiz an Edventure is qualified to win the Astra, although the turf marathon is puzzling due to a conspicuous shortage of pace. Nine fillies and mares are entered. Barring surprise speed from Chilean import Australia Mia, the role of pacesetter is indeterminable.

Grade 3-placed Queen Ofthe Temple is the only entrant who has raced 1 1/2 miles. She finished third last year in a Grade 3 at the distance and recently ran third in a Grade 3 at 1 3/8 miles. Dan Blacker trains Queen Ofthe Temple, who could vie for favoritism despite her being the only Astra entrant with just a single victory.

Others in the field include entry-level allowance winners Lady Clementine, Duvet Day, and New Heat, and California-bred allowance winners Almost a Factor and Barrister’s Ride.

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