Santa Anita: Bejarano, Stormy Lucy prove potent team

ARCADIA, Calif. - Rafael Bejarano, the meet’s leading rider, won three races on Sunday, highlighted by Stormy Lucy’s victory in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes for female turf runners.

Bejarano had never ridden Stormy Lucy, hadn’t even worked her, but no one does more extensive homework before a race. Bejarano pores over past performances, and gets eye strain from watching videos. All that preparation paid off.

Stormy Lucy was winning for the sixth time in 21 starts, but this was only her second win in her last 13 starts. She was fifth in the Grade 2 Buena Vista here on Feb. 17, and Bejarano thought she had an excuse that day when he watched the tape.

“She didn’t have a good position,” he said.

In the Santa Ana, Bejarano brought Stormy Lucy up the rail to rally for the win. She was fifth at the top of the lane, and hugged the rail the rest of the way. Bejarano said she hesitated to go through the hole, started to advance, then shied anew when Martin Garcia, on front-runner Nickels Wild, accidentally hit Stormy Lucy across her nose while whipping left-handed.

“She was a little intimidated at first,” Bejarano said. “I hit her on the shoulder, and she took off. Then she got hit in the face. But then she took off again.”

The next logical spot for Stormy Lucy would be the Grade 3, $150,000 Santa Barbara Handicap on April 13.