Queen Blossom surprises in Santa Barbara Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – If you can’t beat ’em, surround ’em. Also, add blinkers and instruct your jockey to orchestrate a perfect trip.

Trainer Richard Baltas started four of the six runners in the Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, a filly-mare turf marathon in which Bob Baffert-trained Plein Air was odds-on.

At the finish of the 1 1/2-mile turf race, it was Baltas-trained Queen Blossom, adding blinkers and benefitting from a terrific ride from Flavien Prat, who scored a $21.60 upset. Queen Blossom got an 89 Beyer Speed Figure.

Causeforcommotion finished second. Baltas trainees Pantsonfire and Lucy De finished third and fourth, respectively. Plein Air did not get the front-running trip she won with last time and finished fifth. Baltas trainee Space Cadet, the sacrificial rabbit, finished last.

Queen Blossom previously finished fifth behind Plein Air when they met in the Astra Stakes on Jan. 14, and her stablemate Lucy De finished third in that race. Those were the only Baltas runners in the Astra.

For the $100,000 Santa Barbara, Baltas flooded the entry box with four runners. While his 45-1 longshot Space Cadet sped to the front and prevented Plein Air from a lonely lead, Prat tucked Queen Blossom third on the rail.

With blinkers on, Queen Blossom was closer to the pace, and saved ground every step. At the top of the stretch, she angled out, went back toward the rail, and out-finished Causeforcommotion to win by a half-length. Nice ride by Prat.

Pantsonfire finished third, followed by, in order, Lucy De, Plein Air, and Space Cadet.

Queen Blossom, a 5-year-old Irish-bred sired by Jeremy, was winning for the third time in 15 starts. She was making just her third start since a private sale and transfer to Baltas.

Baltas had started three runners in a graded stakes on five separate occasions. The 2018 Santa Barbara was the first time he started four runners in a graded stakes.

The final time of the Santa Barbara, which was lengthened in distance last year, was 2:27.65, which was .05 seconds faster than Evo Campo in 2017.