Redrawn maiden races have interesting players
ARCADIA, Calif. – Second-start maidens who underperformed first out get another shot Friday at Santa Anita. The best two races are maiden sprints carried over from the Sunday, Jan. 1, card that was canceled after 1 1/2 inches of rain the night before.
Friday race 2 contender Teena Ella, off the board in her debut, will try to emulate her dam, Beholder, by winning a filly maiden race second out. Race 4 contender Yo Time, fifth as the favorite in his debut, is likely to improve in the California-bred maiden sprint.
Both maiden races are at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and are the top races on the Friday all-dirt program. Santa Anita did not card turf races dues to wet weather midweek. Race 2 offers a chance at redemption for Teena Ella, whose debut was unremarkable. Second choice in the betting, she dueled, faded, and finished sixth.
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Trainer Richard Mandella said Teena Ella “kind of tripped on her belly at the quarter pole. She was fatter than a hog.” Teena Ella needed the race, similar to Beholder.
Teena Ella is “like her mother, she lives on air, she carries weight,” Mandella said. “Sometimes it’s just better to run them [instead of] train the hell out of them. The race tightened her up. I think she’ll run really well.”
Mandella was not comparing Teena Ella’s ability to Hall of Fame mare Beholder, he was only pointing out that some maidens need a prep race. Beholder finished fourth in her debut in 2012 and won a maiden race next out, her first of 18 wins.
Teena Ella exits a productive race. The winner Faiza won the Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos; runner-up Lily Poo won a fast maiden race and will be among the contenders in the Grade 3 Santa Ynez, rescheduled to Jan. 8 following the Jan. 1 cancellation.
Sired by War Front, Teena Ella is the third foal from Beholder. Her first foal Q B One retired as a maiden; her second foal is a 4-year-old maiden filly Karin With an I. Teena Ella is named after Mandella’s late mother, Ella, whose nickname was Teena.
Teena Ella’s main rivals are Bob Baffert trainees. Doinitthehardway drops from a fourth in the Starlet; Wudi finished second in her debut. Sweet Trouble also entered the redrawn sprint due to unavailability of a route. She may want two turns.
Friday race 4 second-timer Yo Time figures to improve after finishing fifth as the favorite in his debut. In hindsight, trainer Phil D’Amato said his instructions to jockey Flavien Prat were mistaken.
“He broke well, and Flavien took him back per my instructions,” D’Amato said. “It was not the right decision. He ran in spots. Now with a race under his belt, with a better post, he’ll be more tactical.”
Yo Time drew post 6 of 8. Contenders include first-time gelding, last-out runner-up Rhythem On Stage, and front-runner Montana. Thirsty debuts with a San Luis Rey Downs workout pattern that suggests he is live first out for trainer Peter Miller.
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