Patient ride pays off for Fatale Bere in Providencia

ARCADIA, Calif. – Patience, both by trainer Leonard Powell and jockey Joel Rosario, paid off for the filly Fatale Bere on Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3, $151,035 Providencia Stakes, as she turned in an auspicious performance in her delayed 3-year-old debut when unleashing a strong closing kick to capture the first of the four graded stakes races on the card.

Fatale Bere ($17.80) had not raced since November, and Powell initially wanted to run her earlier this meet.

“But she was a little slower coming around than we expected,” Powell said. “There’s a good program for 3-year-old fillies on the turf, so we thought why rush to make an earlier race and mess up the rest of the year.”

Similar discipline was exercised in the race by Rosario, who kept Fatale Bere a safe, stalking distance behind the leaders, then turned her loose in the final quarter-mile. She went on to win by 1 1/2 lengths over pace-setting Ms Bad Behavior, who was 2 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Paved, the 7-5 favorite.

Pulpit Rider was fourth and was followed, in order, by Lexington Grace, Treasuring, Retro, and Deep Breath. Florista was scratched earlier in the day.

Fatale Bere completed 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:47.48, and flew the final three furlongs in less than 35 seconds.

Paved, favored to win her third straight, was right outside of Ms Bad Behavior the whole way but failed to kick on.

“I would have liked to have gotten her cover,” said her jockey, Drayden Van Dyke. “We were in chase mode, and she was relaxed, but I’d like to see her further back. I think she can do better with different tactics.”

Fatale Bere raced three times in her native France before being privately purchased to race in this country. She won the Surfer Girl at Santa Anita in October, was a close fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, then was freshened after finishing eighth in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante at Del Mar on Nov. 25.

Powell said Fatale Bere would remain in California for the immediate future, but said his main goal in upcoming months is the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks on July 7.

Fatale Bere, a daughter of Pedro the Great, has now won 4 times in 7 starts. Powell and his wife, Mathilde, own her along with a partnership that includes the Benewitz Family Trust, Head of Plains Partners, and Mark Mathiesen.