Pantsonfire well rested for Possibly Perfect Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Pantsonfire ran the best race of her career in the Grade 3 Astra Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita in January, winning by 5 1/4 lengths as the favorite.

Trainer Richard Baltas was hoping that would be the start of a winter and spring campaign in turf-distance races for Pantsonfire, but the plans did not work out that way. Pantsonfire was given a rest in late winter and resumes racing in Sunday’s $75,000 Possibly Perfect Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf for fillies and mares.

The layoff is a worry for Baltas, who said Pantsonfire benefited from the break in her racing schedule.

“She wasn’t 100 percent,” he said. “I couldn’t figure it out. She was not happy. I’m hoping she runs well after the layoff.”

Pantsonfire, who will be ridden by leading rider Flavien Prat, won the first stakes of her career in the Astra Stakes. She closed from fifth in a field of nine to win comfortably.

“She ran super big in that race,” Baltas said. “I don’t know if it was that tough of a field. She ran away. She could have won by 10.”

Owned by Next Wave Racing, Pat Maciariello, Jeremy Peskoff, and Mark Silverstein, Pantsonfire is part of a field of eight in the Possibly Perfect Stakes.

The Possibly Perfect will be the fourth consecutive start in a stakes for Zaffinah, who was second as the 4-5 favorite in the Golden Poppy Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Golden Gate Fields on April 27. Although the course was rated firm, trainer Jack Carava said it might have been a bit soft for Zaffinah.

Zaffinah, who starts from the rail in the Possibly Perfect, was second in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf here March 30, leading in the stretch before finishing a half-length behind winner Elysea’s World.

The distance of the Possibly Perfect will suit Lynne’s Legacy, who won a stakes at Golden Gate Fields last December. Trained by Doug O’Neill, Lynne’s Legacy was third in the Astra and Santa Ana and second by nine lengths to Causeforcommotion in the Santa Barbara Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf May 11.