Mona de Momma ready to rebound

ARCADIA, Calif. - Redemption is within reach for lightly raced sprint filly Mona de Momma, who could be tough to beat Thursday in the allowance feature at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet, assuming her second start here is better than her first.

"I think she'll bounce back. I think she has a good chance to redeem herself," trainer John Sadler said.

She will be favored to do just that. After two sharp wins at Del Mar, against maidens and first-level allowance fillies, Mona de Momma finished third at even money in a second-level allowance Oct. 2.

Sadler said he believes Mona de Momma is a better filly Thursday than going into her last start.

"I think I had her a little short," Sadler said, suggesting Mona de Momma was not comfortable with the Pro-Ride surface early in the Oak Tree meet.

Mona de Momma's recent workouts support Sadler's contention. Mona de Momma had three slow drills prior to her dull third-place finish, but since that race she has trained particularly well with three sharp works, including a 59.40-second move last Saturday.

Rafael Bejarano rides Mona de Momma in the six-furlong, second-level allowance for fillies and mares. Her rivals include Mi Chiamano Mimi, winner of the Anoakia Stakes one year ago for 2-year-old fillies, but unraced in nearly a year. She has a solid pattern for her comeback for Mike Mitchell, who also starts in-form Sleep Tight.

* In race 2, It Tiz drops out of a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes to run a mile in a first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies. Mark Glatt trains It Tiz, who previously finished fourth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.

"We have not begun to see her best yet," Glatt said. "I don't think the light has come on. She hasn't had to lay her body down."

It Tiz, by Tiznow, won her debut Aug. 16 at Del Mar, and then went directly into Grade 1 company and finished fourth twice.

"She needs to get some confidence," Glatt said, pleased there is sufficient pace to run at in the mile race. The knock is that deep closers have not fared particularly well this fall in one-mile races on Pro-Ride.

Other starters include allowance sprint runner-up City to City, Fairplex maiden winner Seriously, Golden Gate maiden winner Kaili, and stretch-outs Kaloula and Quadriga.