Medoro noses Shiloh's Mistress in Providencia Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Medoro’s record remains perfect after four starts, even if the style of her latest win was far from extravagant.

Racing at 1 1/8 miles on turf for the first time, Medoro was fully extended to win Saturday’s Grade 3 Providencia Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita, her third stakes win and her graded stakes debut.

Medoro ($2.40) won by a nose over a pesky pacesetter Shiloh’s Mistress, a 7-1 shot who fought to the line. Medoro was timed in 1:48.95 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 80.

“She gets the job done,” winning jockey Antonio Fresu said. “She’s a little filly. She wants to do it.”

Shiloh’s Mistress, fifth in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt on March 9 in her first start in a stakes, had her turf debut in the $100,500 Providencia. She was allowed to set a slow pace of 24.10 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.77 for a half-mile, leading by as much as a length under jockey Umberto Rispoli.

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Medoro tracked Shiloh’s Mistress on the backstretch, and the presence of the favorite concerned Rispoli.

“I was trying to open up early. I knew that filly had a turn of foot,” Rispoli said.

Medoro moved alongside Shiloh’s Mistress in early stretch and appeared poised to take a commanding lead. Instead, the two dueled to the line.

“I thought turning for home I’d win for fun,” Fresu said. “I think going a mile and an eighth, it’s a hotter day, she was tense and a little nervous.

“We were walking and she didn’t like that.”

Shiloh’s Mistress finished three-quarters of a length in front of 5-1 Circle of Trust.

“It’s the first time she had a frontrunner’s trip,” Rispoli said of Shiloh’s Mistress. “I think she’ll gain more from the race.”

Pink Whitney finished fourth, followed by English Danger, and Brand New Dream. Lamporghini and Sakura Blossom were scratched.

Medoro, by Honor Code, races for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable and trainer Peter Eurton. She won a maiden race at five furlongs on turf last December and won for the third time at Santa Anita since late December on Saturday.

Medoro won the Blue Norther Stakes at a mile on turf for 2-year-old fillies by a neck on Dec. 26, and her 3-year-old debut in the China Doll Stakes at a mile on turf by 2 1/4 lengths on March 10. Medoro has earned $216,600.

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