Monrovia tough return spot for Ageless

ARCADIA, Calif. – Under normal circumstances, a $100,000 stakes restricted to fillies and mares is considered an easier spot than a $1 million Breeders’ Cup race open to either gender. But the Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita drew an outstanding field of female turf sprinters in a downhill sprint that comes close to matching the quality of the 2015 BC Turf Sprint at Keeneland.

The Monrovia Stakes is no walk in the park for Ageless, who runs for the first time since winning the Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland over BC Turf Sprint runner-up Lady Shipman on Oct. 9. Ageless, based in the East, was among the early favorites for the Breeders’ Cup but was knocked out of the race with a superficial injury below her left hock that occurred when she clipped heels in the Franklin County.

“It was an open wound but nothing structural,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “We got lucky. She spent two weeks in the stall before we started walking her. She missed a month of training.”

A 7-year-old veteran with 11 wins from 22 starts, Ageless returns Sunday as the likely favorite in the Monrovia. The field for the 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint is deep. Ten of the 12 entrants are stakes winners, most with established form on the Santa Anita hill.

Shrinking Violet won the 2015 Monrovia, Prize Exhibit and Baruta are graded stakes winners shortening up in distance, and Singing Kitty and Velvet Mesquite won restricted stakes on the hill. My Year Is a Day has an upset look in her second start back, and Theatre Star and Lutine Belle will roll late. The outsiders are Heavens Stairway, Our Pure Creation, and Illuminant.

The pace of the Monrovia appears to be soft, which theoretically compromises late runners who otherwise figure as top contenders. Prize Exhibit, Lutine Belle, and Theatre Star fit on class, but none would benefit if the race unfolds at a soft tempo.

Ageless, owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables, has enough speed to stay within striking range. The question is, can she fire in her first start back?

“She has in the past,” Delacour said. “She always runs well off a layoff. She’s not a filly that needs a lot of work, and she had a good breeze Sunday [at Santa Anita].”

It’s a deep field, with many ways to go.

KEY CONTENDERS

Ageless (Last 3 Beyers: 103-98-97)

◗ Ageless has raced at Santa Anita; she finished a close fourth in the 2014 BC Turf Sprint.

◗ She has won 7 of 12 on turf, including three straight races for fillies and mares at Keeneland, Woodbine, and Pimlico.

◗ Delacour said Ageless is expected to remain in training through 2016.

◗ Ageless shipped to Santa Anita immediately after her final workout at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 19.

◗ Julien Leparoux, the regular rider for Ageless, is aboard Sunday and is 1 for 71 in Santa Anita turf sprints.

Prize Exhibit (Last 3 Beyers: 92-81-92)

◗ Prize Exhibit finished a better-than-it-looked sixth last out in a Grade 1 at one mile, compromised by a wide trip.

◗ Trained by Jim Cassidy and ridden by Santiago Gonzalez, Prize Exhibit has won 5 of 19, including a pair of one-mile graded stakes for 3-year-old fillies last spring.

“A mile is her game, meaning I don’t think she wants any farther than a mile,” Cassidy said. “The 6 1/2 is good for her. If she runs like she worked the other day, she will win.”

Shrinking Violet (Last 3 Beyers: 65-105-90)

◗ Wesley Ward owns and trains Shrinking Violet, an 8-for-20 mare who upset the Monrovia a year ago. The last time she shipped to California, she won a stakes at Del Mar by nearly five lengths under regular rider Kent Desormeaux, who is back aboard Sunday.

◗ Ward said Shrinking Violet did not like the soft turf last out at Kentucky Downs, where she finished ninth as the favorite in a $298,000 stakes.

My Year Is a Day (Last 3 Beyers: 82-80-83)

◗ An upset candidate who will make her second start for trainer Phil D’Amato. She finished fourth racing five furlongs last out at Del Mar.

“That race was just a prep,” D’Amato said. “Six and a half will be perfect.”

◗ Tyler Baze will ride the 3-for-10 filly.

Baruta (Last 3 Beyers: 78-93-75)

◗ Baruta finished last in her most recent start, which came in a Grade 1 at one mile.

◗ Baruta, 6 for 22 and a Grade 3 winner on the Santa Anita hill two starts back, is expected to retire and be bred this spring.