It took more than 20 years and 1,400 starters before California trainer Aggie Ordonez won her first stakes with Om N Joy in the $126,000 Evening Jewel Stakes at Santa Anita on April 5. A second career stakes win for Ordonez is highly possible when Om N Joy starts in Saturday’s $125,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old California-bred fillies at 1 1/16 miles. The two-turn distance is a change from Om N Joy’s previous two starts at 6 1/2 furlongs, the first of which was a maiden win at Santa Anita on March 14. The longer distance is the only concern for Ordonez after Om N Joy was beaten in two races around two turns last fall. “She’s never been better,” Ordonez said on Thursday morning. “It’s the right way to come into the race.” Last October, Om N Joy finished last of six at 61-1 in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Om N Joy was a maiden who was third in sprints at Del Mar during the summer. “I knew I had something nice,” Ordonez said. “With young horses, sometimes you have to take a swing.” :: Santa Anita Clocker Reports are available every race day. Access now. Last November, Om N Joy was sixth of eight in a maiden race for statebred 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Del Mar. “She wasn’t ready to do the two turns at that point,” Ordonez said. Om N Joy’s last two races have been far more encouraging, leaving the filly among the contenders in a competitive field of seven in the Melair. Sunset Grazen, second in the Evening Jewel, and Miso Phansy, second by a nose in the Honeymoon Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf against open company last Sunday, are Om N Joy’s two leading rivals. In the Evening Jewel Stakes, Om N Joy closed from sixth of seven to win by a convincing 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Kent Desormeaux, who has the mount on Saturday. Om N Joy should have a pace to follow in the Melair courtesy of Fibonaccis Ride, who finished a game second in an allowance race at 5 1/2 furlongs in her 2025 debut on May 3. “She looks like a two-turn horse,” Ordonez said of Om N Joy. “She’s big, long-legged and has a long body on her. She has such a good mind on her. She’s ready to relax and kind. I think that’s so important in route races. “Kent will be able to place her where he wants and she’ll wait for his cue. We’ll find out if she wants to go two turns or she doesn’t. She’s been such an easy keeper and a pleasure to train. She’s healthy and strong and sound.” A successful race will help determine whether Om N Joy belongs in longer races. Win or lose, however, Om N Joy’s summertime target will be the $125,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs at Del Mar on July 25. Ordonez, 57, began training in 2004 and has won 180 races with a California-based stable. She is the daughter of the late jockey Pete Anderson, who won the 1958 Belmont Stakes on Cavan and was aboard Forego for a fourth-place finish behind Secretariat in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. Anderson was later a successful trainer based in South Florida. Anderson died at 82 in 2013, and his influence remains a constant presence, Ordonez said. She grew up around the racing community on the East Coast. “His resume is something I could never begin to match,” Ordonez said. “I can dream. He was such a great horseman.” Ordonez has a lengthy background in Northern California racing but foresaw the demise of racing in Northern California by relocating to Southern California earlier this decade. Golden Gate Fields was permanently closed last June. No fair meetings are currently scheduled this summer or fall in Northern California. “I was one of the lucky ones,” she said of the transition. “As I’ve moved down south, improving my quality has been my goal. I had the right clients behind me.” This year, Ordonez has 13 horses at Santa Anita. Aside from Om N Joy, the stable is led by Jessebear, a 6-year-old mare who won at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos last year and was second in the Bart Heller Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Pleasanton last October. Jessebear, who recently resumed training after a wintertime break, was bought for $6,000 as a yearling and has earned $161,220. “She’s been my big horse,” Ordonez said. Om N Joy, who races for the partnership of Jerry and Connie Baker, Michael Golovko, and Terrence Scanlan, could challenge for that position in the stable with a win on Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.