Ruby Nell has no trouble with Lady of Shamrock Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Ruby Nell was allowed to gain a clear lead in the first turn of Saturday’s $100,500 Lady of Shamrock Stakes at Santa Anita, which pretty much marked the end of the one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies not long after it began.

Setting a solid pace, Ruby Nell ($2.40) ran to expectation, extending her lead from two lengths on the backstretch to five lengths in the stretch. Ridden by Edwin Maldonado, Ruby Nell finished 4 1/2 lengths clear of 8-1 Justique.

“She’s got her ears forward and was doing it so easily,” Maldonado said. “I didn’t want to grab her. That’s the way she runs naturally.”

Ruby Nell was timed in 1:34.01, winning her third stakes in her last four starts for Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Ruby Nell earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 97.

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“She’s just an athlete,” Mandella said.

Ruby Nell set fractions of 22.09 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.59 seconds, leading comfortably over 42-1 Anacaro. Maldonado said Ruby Nell was comfortable throughout the race.

“I’ve gotten to know her and I’m grateful I’m riding her,” he said.

Justique closed from fifth in a field of six to finish two lengths clear of 11-1 Irish Patsy. Anacaro faded to finish fourth, followed by Cliquish and Princess Bettina, who was briefly second on the turn.

Ruby Nell has won 5 of 10 starts and earned $324,520.

Ruby Nell’s only loss in four starts since the first of October was a fifth-place by two lengths to Surge Capacity in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes against older fillies and mares at Del Mar on Dec. 3. She won the Unzip Me Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Oct. 1, and the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at a mile on turf on Nov. 5. In the Matriarch, Ruby Nell had the best finish in the field of 12 by a filly or mare not trained by Chad Brown.

Ruby Nell will be nominated to the Grade 3 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf Invitational, a $500,000 race at 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 27.

“It might be too close,” Mandella said. “We’ll see how she comes out of it.”

Ruby Nell gave Mandella his 14th graded stakes win of 2023, much higher than the three graded stakes wins the stable recorded in 2022 or 11 such wins in 2021.

Despite the success, Mandella remains tormented by the loss of Geaux Rocket Ride, his star 3-year-old colt, who sustained a leg injury in a workout in late October and could not be saved. At the time, Geaux Rocket Ride was being trained for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

“I’ve had a very good year, but I lost a special horse in Geaux Rocket Ride,” Mandella said on Sunday afternoon. “That’s very painful.”

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