Meaning takes step toward Oaks with Las Virgenes win

ARCADIA, Calif. – She paid a mere $7.80 to win, but Meaning’s victory in Sunday’s $98,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita was a minor upset.

Starting for the first time since a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar, Meaning benefited from a superb trip in the Las Virgenes at a mile.

Ridden by New York-based Flavien Prat, Meaning stalked a fast pace set by 4-5 Explora and 8-5 Super Corredora before rallying three wide to reach contention on the turn. Meaning fought past a determined Explora to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Super Corredora faded to finish fourth, behind the recent maiden race winner Bank Shot.

Super Corredora, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2025, and Explora were first and second in the BC Juvenile Fillies. The Las Virgenes was Super Corredora’s first start since the Breeders’ Cup. Explora won the Santa Ynez Stakes at seven furlongs on Jan. 10.

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In the Las Virgenes, they set an early pace of 22.57 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.98 for a half-mile while racing heads apart. In the BC Juvenile Fillies, Super Corredora led by at least a length through early fractions of 22.42 and 45.63.

Michael McCarthy, who trains Meaning, said he was essentially forced to start the filly’s 2026 season in the Las Virgenes because of a lack of depth in the division in California.

“An allowance race isn’t going to go for a filly like this,” he said. “That’s just the way California is.

“I thought she was fit enough to run well and show herself accordingly.”

A rematch may occur in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on April 4, California’s leading prep race for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

“That would be the plan,” McCarthy said.

The Las Virgenes was Meaning’s third start. She won her debut in a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs on Sept. 20 at Los Alamitos and had her second start in the BC Juvenile Fillies.

“She’s a stronger filly, more mature,” McCarthy said in the winner’s circle.

“She’s put on a lot of weight here in the last couple of months. It was a big ask going from a maiden at Los Alamitos to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. I gave her some time after the Breeders’ Cup to kind of get her feet underneath her and prepare for something like this.”

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