Samurai Charm tests win streak in Dark Mirage Stakes
Samurai Charm has needed slightly more than two years to compile the four-race winning streak at risk when the 4-year-old filly has her stakes debut in Sunday’s $75,000 Dark Mirage Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile at Los Alamitos.
Perfect in three starts this year, Samurai Charm won starter-allowance races at 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos in July and at a mile on Aug. 13 at Del Mar. She followed with a victory in an allowance race at a mile on Aug. 22 at Del Mar.
“We’ll take it as far as we can,” trainer Peter Miller said. “She wants the distance.”
Owned by Kirk and Judy Robison’s Downstream Racing, Samurai Charm drew the rail in a field of six in the Dark Mirage, an overnight stakes that was a late addition to the Los Alamitos calendar.
Miller expects jockey Kyle Frey to have Samurai Charm prominent early, and perhaps on the lead.
“She’s sharp,” Miller said. “She likes that track. She’s got a lot of speed.”
Samurai Charm has won 4 of 5 starts. She won a $50,000 claiming race for maidens at 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos in September 2019, the start of the current streak, and was off for more than 21 months before returning to racing in July of this year.
“She had two or three minor issues,” Miller said. “She never had surgery, but needed time. She came back and needed more time.”
Samurai Charm could face an early challenge from Big Sweep, who won two sprint stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies in 2020, but is winless in three sprints this year. The Dark Mirage Stakes is Big Sweep’s first start in a stakes around two turns since she finished a well-beaten third in the Melair Stakes for statebreds at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita in June 2020.
The Dark Mirage Stakes is a good fit for Paige Anne and Harper’s Gallop, who were second and third in the restricted Tranquility Lake Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 28 at Del Mar.
Paige Anne, who was third of five in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 1 at Del Mar, is quick enough to lead, but is likely to stalk the pace from post 5.
“She’s got a good post and there are one or two that have speed,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “She should be up close.
“She came out of that last race really well. She ran a tough race. We know that she doesn’t mind this racetrack.”
Paige Anne won a maiden special weight at a mile at Los Alamitos in December 2019.
Harper’s Gallop has recent success at Los Alamitos, having won an allowance race at a mile by four lengths over the track in July. Trained by Leonard Powell, Harper’s Gallop drew post 4.
“It looks like there is a bit of speed and we can stalk,” Powell said. “The main speed is inside of us, and that’s a good thing. I expect her to hit the board, at least.”
The other starters are Candura, winner of an allowance race for sprinters at Oaklawn Park in April but well beaten in two turf appearances at Del Mar recently, and Velvet Slippers, a promising 3-year-old filly.
Velvet Slippers led throughout a maiden special weight at a mile on dirt on Sept. 2 at Del Mar for trainer Bob Baffert. Mike Smith rides Velvet Slippers, his first mount of the current Los Alamitos meeting.