Paradise Woods appears on her way up at the right time

ARCADIA, Calif. – The temperamental Paradise Woods is like a roller coaster. Sometimes she goes up, other times down.

Trainer John Shirreffs has the best seat on the ride, but all year an element of uncertainty has shadowed Paradise Woods. Sometimes she dazzles, other times she fizzles.

When she minds her manners, Paradise Woods makes it simple. Sunday at Santa Anita, she scored a solid, pace-pressing victory in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes to emerge as the top California candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

A similar effort Nov. 2 in the Distaff would give her a chance to upset favorite Midnight Bisou. But throughout her career, Paradise Woods rarely has run two alike, or as Shirreffs calls it, produce “repeatable performances.”

Paradise Woods was transferred this year to Shirreffs, from Richard Mandella. Early on, Shirreffs recognized the challenge in managing the high-intensity 5-year-old.

“When she gets upset, it takes her a long time to get over it,” he said.

Paradise Woods made her third start for Shirreffs in April at Santa Anita and smashed the Grade 2 Santa Margarita by more than 10 lengths. Days later, Shirreffs cautioned, “She’s got to put a couple races together.”

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Sure enough, next time out she stumbled, got trapped behind runners, and finished second at 1-5. Then it happened again, July 28 at Del Mar. Paradise Woods did not break cleanly in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch, was caught behind horses, and ran fourth.

“I was very disappointed. Shirreffs admitted. “She had trained so well for that race. She did everything right in the mornings. It seemed like she was going into that race as well as a horse could.”

Why the bad starts? “Who can say?” Shirreffs said. “She likes Santa Anita for sure, no doubt about that. I don’t know [what happened at Del Mar], she’s so temperamental.”

Marty Wygod owns Paradise Woods with Steve Sarkowsky, and Wygod was less discouraged. He knew Paradise Woods would have a better chance at Santa Anita, site of her four previous wins, including a blowout in the 2017 Santa Anita Oaks.

The main objective was still ahead. It was the reason Wygod kept her in training despite a forgettable 4-year-old campaign in which three starts netted a single third-place finish.

“The goal was to get her to the Breeders’ Cup,” Shirreffs said. “That was the goal for the year. He wanted her to go out on a high note. He wanted her to have one more chance.”

Paradise Woods trained well into the Zenyatta, but that was nothing new. She always works well. The key was how the race would unfold. With regular jockey Mike Smith committed to Midnight Bisou in the Distaff, Shirreffs named Abel Cedillo.

“I didn’t speak a lot to Abel,” Shirreffs said. “The only thing we wanted to do was to get to the outside. We didn’t want her stuck inside getting dirt in her face. That’s the one thing that really angers her.”

Cedillo and Paradise Woods won it at the start.

“She broke well, and she doesn’t always break well,” Shirreffs said. “There’s no way to predict if she’s going to break well.”

Cedillo positioned Paradise Woods outside pacesetter Secret Spice. Perfect trip. She won by 1 3/4 lengths. For Shirreffs, the roller-coaster season is ending the right way.

“Given the task that we were asked to do, and the ups and downs we had along the way, and to have it happen at the last race possible, and to have her run so well . . . It’s like everything sort of came together, finally, at the right time,” Shirreffs said.

Paradise Woods “came out of her race like it was a workout,” Shirreffs said. “It seemed like – I won’t say easy – but her ability to recover from the race was unbelievable. The next day it was like she just had a workout. So, when you’re talking about repeatable performances, I don’t think we’re going to see a fall off. I think a little bit higher.”

◗ The possibility of a tepid pace in the 1 1/8-mile Distaff benefits Paradise Woods. Front-runners Secret Spice and Guarana, runners-up last out at 1 1/16 miles, are now under consideration for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

◗ Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress, unplaced last out in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing, returns to the work tab this week. Trainer Tom Amoss will monitor developments before committing to a Breeders Cup race.

◗ Midnight Bisou arrived at Santa Anita on Monday with Steve Asmussen’s assistant trainer Scott Blasi. Midnight Bisou is 7 for 7 this year following the Grade 2 Beldame on Saturday at Belmont Park.

◗ Elate is expected to start favored in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland. Elate is under consideration for the BC Classic.