Santa Anita: Charm the Maker, Suggestive Boy give McAnally much to look forward to

ARCADIA, Calif. - Charm the Maker will start for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally in Saturday’s $100,000 Autumn Miss Stakes, but his mind was far from that race on Wednesday morning.

McAnally was anxiously awaiting word whether Suggestive Boy would be assured a spot in the $2 million BC Mile on Nov. 3. He feared the race would oversubscribe and that Suggestive Boy would be stuck on an also-eligible list. When the pre-entries were announced with a list of 13, Suggestive Boy was assured of a spot in the race.

The winner of four Group 1 races in Argentina in 2011, Suggestive Boy won the restricted Wickerr Stakes on turf at Del Mar in July but was later fifth in two Grade 1 races – the Pacific Classic at Del Mar and the Awesome Again Stakes here.

“We tried him on the dirt and it didn’t work,” McAnally said.

Suggestive Boy will be a longshot in the BC Mile. Charm the Maker may be favored in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss, at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies. Owned by Ron’s wife, Debbie, Charm the Maker has won 2 of 8 starts and $238,040.

Charm the Maker was second in the Unzip Me Stakes on the hillside turf course Sept. 29, her first start in more than five months and a race that helped her, McAnally said.

“She needed the race,” McAnally said. “Our filly ran good. The next move is a mile race.”