Santa Anita: Rock and Glory may be hard to catch in Paseana

ARCADIA, Calif. – Rock and Glory does not race often, but when the nine-start front-runner is in the mood, she can rock and roll. She crushed an allowance field last out by nearly seven lengths.

Halo Dolly, meanwhile, runs all the time. She has been grinding it out for more than three years, winning 17 of 35 starts while inching ever closer to the million-dollar mark.

Rock and Glory, Halo Dolly, and Group 1-winning Argentina import Miss Serendipity meet Sunday at Santa Anita in the $75,000 Paseana Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares. The horse to beat is the lone speed.

“Vamanos!,” jockey Martin Garcia said. Translated from Spanish, it means “let’s go.” Rock and Glory’s strategy is never secret. Her three wins were loose on the lead.

“She likes to run free,” Garcia said. “The best thing is to let her run. You have more left than if you fight her.”

“She’s a free-runner,” trainer Tim Yakteen said. “You can’t take hold of her.”

Rock and Glory is expected to open up in the Paseana. The stretch is where it gets interesting.

“She goes as far as she can,” Yakteen said.

Sunday, she could go all the way in a race Yakteen and Mercedes Stable have targeted for two months.

“Everything has gone absolutely perfect,” Yakteen said. “We’re ready to roll.”

Halo Dolly is less brilliant, but more accomplished. Jerry Hollendorfer has trained the veteran since her fourth start, orchestrating a career that has seen her win nearly half her starts.

“She’s an absolute pro,” Hollendorfer said. “She’s a big, good-looking mare and she has stayed very sound.”

Sound enough to continue racing.

“We contemplated selling her in the broodmare sale, but pulled her out and decided to run her another year,” Hollendorfer said. “She can run on just about anything.”

Halo Dolly has earned $910,256, and any surface will do. She has won on dirt (2 for 3), synthetic (4 for 10), and turf (11 for 22). Halo Dolly will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano and has enough speed to keep the pacesetter in her sights.

Miss Serendipity will make her U.S. debut for Ron McAnally, who trained the Hall of Fame mare Paseana, for whom the Sunday stakes is named. A Group 1 winner last June, Miss Serendipity is ready to fire, according to McAnally.

“She’s been training good, and we expect her run good,” McAnally said. “Gary [Stevens] has worked her, He likes her. She acts like a good filly.”

Miss Serendipity won 5 of 19 in Argentina on fast dirt, mud, and turf.

Warren’s Veneda, a California-bred 4-year-old, finished a distant third last out in the Grade 2 Bayakoa, beaten almost 10 lengths. Trainer Craig Lewis offered no alibi.

“It wasn’t her day, I guess,” Lewis said. “But I can’t be too unhappy. She went over $300,000 that day.”

Warren’s Veneda, 5 for 11 lifetime, is the second leading earner sired by the low-budget stallion Affirmative.

Warren’s Veneda has worked fast recently at Santa Anita, where she won a second-level allowance by more than seven lengths in October. Since her most recent work, Lewis said she missed a couple days of training with a minor foot issue.

Stanwyck won the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm last out at Belmont Park, earning a 93 Beyer that was either an aberration or a signal she has emerged as a serious older mare. A 5-year-old trained by John Shirreffs, Stanwyck is a sibling to Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo.