Paved to start in Providencia

ARCADIA, Calif. – Paved, a 3-year-old filly by Quality Road, laid the groundwork for an outstanding 2018 season with wins in her first two starts this year.

A victory in a maiden race on turf for fillies Jan. 6 was followed by a win as the 2-1 favorite in the El Camino Real Derby against males on the Tapeta track at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 17.

For some trainers, those performances would lead to plans for a start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday and perhaps the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 4. But trainer Michael McCarthy said Paved will instead run on turf in Saturday’s Grade 3 Providencia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-old fillies.

“She’s training well and I think she’s better on the grass,” McCarthy said. “Sometime down the line, we’ll give her a try on the dirt.”

Paved will be favored in the $100,000 Providencia in a field expected to include Ms Bad Behavior, the winner of the China Doll Stakes at a mile on turf March 10. Other contenders are Deep Breath, Fatale Bere, Lexington Grace, Pulpit Rider, and Treasuring.

The Providencia field will not include Ippodamia’s Girl, who won the Blue Norther Stakes at a mile on turf Dec. 31. She has been sidelined by a foot ailment, trainer Mike Puype said.

“We’ve been fighting a foot,” Puype said Sunday. “I’ve missed too much time.”

Puype will start Pulpit Rider, who won the California Cup Oaks for statebreds on turf Feb. 19.

The Providencia is one of six Thoroughbred stakes on a program led by the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks.

Bolt d’Oro, the winner of two Grade 1 races last year and the promoted winner of the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 10, is the favorite in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

Midnight Bisou, the winner of the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 3, will be favored in the Santa Anita Oaks.

The richest turf race of the day is the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at a mile on turf. The projected field includes Enola Gray, unraced since winning the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes last July, and Thundering Sky, who was second in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes in February.

Mick Ruis, who trains Bolt d’Oro, said two of his stakes fillies have missed training time and won’t run this week – the 3-year-old filly One Fast Broad, who won two stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies last year, and Union Strike, a 4-year-old filly who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2016.

“They’ll have nice summer campaigns,” he said.