Santa Anita: Stakes winner Premier Steps starting over

ARCADIA, Calif. – Premier Steps, who makes her first start for trainer Tom Proctor at Santa Anita on Friday, was a success for her first two trainers.

As a 2-year-old trained by Tom Dascombe in England, the Irish-bred Premier Steps was third in the Group 3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in June 2012, and second two months later in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados at Deauville, France.

Premier Steps made four starts for Chad Brown in late 2012 and last year, a span highlighted by a win in the Sweetest Chant Stakes at Gulfstream Park in January 2013.

Proctor began training Premier Steps last fall. Friday, Premier Steps is part of a field of 10 in a $60,000 allowance race on the hillside turf course. The second-level allowance will be the first start in a turf sprint for Premier Steps since the Prix du Calvados over seven furlongs.

In her last start, Premier Steps was fifth in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness Stakes undercard last May.

“She hasn’t run in a while,” said Aimee Dollase, Proctor’s assistant in California. “I think the race should suit her.”

Premier Steps, who will be ridden by Gary Stevens, has worked steadily since mid-December. Owned by a partnership that includes Swift Thoroughbreds, Inc., and Vintage Thoroughbreds, Premier Steps has won 2 of 9 starts and earned $108,154.

“She’s training well,” Dollase said. “I think she can be a nice filly, but she has to prove it first.”

Friday, Premier Steps has to catch Kinz Funky Monkey. Trained by Peter Eurton, Kinz Funky Monkey is expected to lead. She led throughout the Manhattan Beach Stakes for turf sprinters at Hollywood Park last June, but has lost her last four starts. Eurton said Friday’s race could give Kinz Funky Monkey a confidence boost.

“She’s about as fast of a horse as I have, especially on grass,” Eurton said. “She’s ultra-quick.”

The field includes Macha, third in the Grade 2 Honeymoon Handicap at Hollywood Park last June; Chokecherymary, who won the 2012 Valentine Dancer Stakes; Ultrasonic, who placed in three stakes in England last year; and Remise, an Australian-bred who was third in her U.S. debut on Jan. 3.

Remise, a two-time winner in New Zealand in 2012, is trained by Dan Blacker.

“I think she’ll move forward,” Blacker said. “The first race went pretty well. Ultimately, she wants to go farther.”