One filly with course experience
ARCADIA, Calif. - A rambunctious, partisan crowd will gather in a festive setting Sunday to cheer for athletes competing on a grass field in pursuit of fame and glory.
Super Bowl? Nope, it's Santa Anita.
A dozen 3-year-old fillies will race 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Sunday in the Grade 3 La Habra Stakes, a $100,000 stakes that goes at 2:37 p.m. Pacific. First post on the nine-race card is early at 11 a.m.
Ready Steady Gone is the least-experienced La Habra entrant, but her Dec. 27 debut came over the very downhill course she will run over Sunday. She is the only starter with a race over the course, and has been aimed at the La Habra ever since her win.
"We gave her plenty of time, she's had five weeks," trainer Peter Miller said. "We didn't want her to bounce."
Ready Steady Gone will not bounce. But is she good enough? The La Habra includes sharp debut winner Miss Silver Brook; Pasar Silbano, a four-time winner in Europe returning to turf; main-track stakes winner Broadway Hennessey; and a host of assorted shippers and droppers.
A grass sprint, the La Habra is not a typical segue into major races for 3-year-old fillies. The 2008 La Habra runner-up, however - Ariege - won the Santa Anita Oaks, and Ready Steady Gone also will stretch out and change surfaces.
"She trains super on the natural dirt at San Luis Rey, and I think she'll run long as well," Miller said. Ready Steady Gone is by More Than Ready.
Although Miller looks forward to stretching her out, the La Habra has been planned since her victory five weeks ago. "I expect her to run as well, if not better," he said.
Garrett Gomez rides her back.
Two fillies Ready Steady Gone beat - fourth-place Burg Berg and fifth-place Acronym - returned to win special-weight maiden races.
Miss Silver Brook was not considered a likely La Habra starter early this week, but her physical condition led to reconsideration. "She has put on weight, she's doing super," trainer Julio Canani said.
Miss Silver Brook rallied from last to first on Pro-Ride to win her career debut. "She only ran an eighth of a mile," Canani said. "She's bred for grass - she's by Cozzene - and she has the good post."
Alex Solis rides her back from post 12.