Miss Sunset begins comeback against open company

ARCADIA, Calif. – Miss Sunset was unbeaten – and untested – when she left Del Mar last summer. She won her two starts by a combined 10 lengths, including a stakes against California-bred 2-year-old fillies.

She sustained a minor injury in mid-September, which left her career on hold.

“She strained a muscle in her rear end when we moved from Del Mar to Santa Anita,” trainer Jeff Bonde said on Wednesday. “She got cast on a wall.”

Miss Sunset resumed workouts in November and will have her first start against open company in a first-level optional $75,000 claimer for 3-year-old fillies in Friday’s seventh race at Santa Anita. The race is scheduled for the hillside turf course, but it might be run on the main track because of wet weather.

“I’d rather run on the main track,” Bonde said.

Miss Sunset has worked well in recent weeks, including a half-mile in 46.80 seconds here on Dec. 20, the fastest of 54 recorded works at the distance. She recorded fast workouts in late November and early December at five furlongs.

“It took her a while to get back to normal,” Bonde said.

Miss Sunset, who is owned by Alan Klein and Phil Lebherz, has six rivals.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has two fillies in the race – Beautiful Becca, a maiden race winner on the hillside turf course in October, and Tapped, who was fourth in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10. Hollendorfer said on Wednesday both fillies will start if the race is transferred to the main track.

Tapped was beaten five lengths by Abel Tasman in the Starlet. Tapped led to early stretch before fading in the final furlong.

“Maybe the front end wasn’t the place to be,” Hollendorfer said.

Tapped won her debut in a six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita on Oct. 2 and was second at 1-5 in the Pike Place Dancer at a mile on the synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields on Oct. 29.

Two other fillies in Friday’s optional claimer raced in the Starlet. Sandy’s Surprise was sixth after racing within a half-length of the lead in early stretch. Go On Mary was ninth as a 35-1 outsider. Both are trained by Doug O’Neill.