Neige Blanche holds off Rideforthecause in Santa Barbara
ARCADIA, Calif. - Neige Blanche arrived from France last July as a group-level stakes winner in her final start in that county.
Nine months later, Neige Blanche fulfilled some of the expectations that accompanied the transfer with her first American win in Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.
Neige Blanche won the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre at 1 3/8 miles at Lyon-Parilly Racecourse last June in her final start in France. A return to a similar distance in the $101,000 Santa Barbara Stakes contributed to her nose win over 6-1 Rideforthecause.
Neige Blanche ($13.40) ran 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2:28.01 in the Santa Barbara and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 89.
Ridden by Juan Hernandez for trainer Leonard Powell, Neige Blanche closed from fourth in a field of seven to reach contention in the final furlong.
“She relaxed pretty good,” Hernandez said. “She felt like she was galloping on the backstretch.”
Tapwater, the even-money favorite, set a modest pace of 48.08 seconds for the first half-mile and 1:13:56 for six furlongs. Tapwater turned into the stretch with a one-length lead, but could not sustain the advantage, fading from contention in the final furlong.
Neige Blanche, racing three wide, and Rideforthecause, ran together to the wire before Neige Blanche won by the narrow margin.
“I wasn’t sure after the wire if I got it,” Hernandez said. “When she got the lead, she waited for the other horse.”
Rideforthecause, the winner of the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes at Woodbine last September, finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of Tapwater.
Go Big Blue Nation was fourth, followed by Catch the Eye, Star of Africa, and Dynapower.
Neige Blanche, a 4-year-old filly by the Anabaa stallion Anodin, has won 4 of 11 starts and has earned $177,112.
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The Prix Cleopatre and Santa Barbara are her only stakes wins. In late 2019, Neige Blanche won consecutive races at 1 1/4 miles on the synthetic track at Marseille Pont de Vivaux Racecourse in the final weeks of her 2-year-old season.
Neige Blanche has made five starts in the United States, all in stakes, for the partnership of Madaket Stables, Laura De Seroux, Marsha Naify, and Mathilde Powell. De Seroux is a former trainer best known for guiding the career of Azeri, the 2002 Horse of the Year.
Prior to Saturday, Neige Blanche’s best result since arriving in the United States was a third in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks last September.