Santa Anita: Unzip Me collects 10th career stakes win in Wishing Well

ARCADIA, Calif. - Unzip Me held off a late threat from Teroda to win the 10th stakes of her career in Sunday’s $86,600 Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita, a victory that trainer Marty Jones credited to jockey Rafael Bejarano.

“Raf did a good job getting her to settle and that was the difference,” Jones said. “If she’d been caught in a speed duel, they might have caught her.”

Unzip Me ($3.40) ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:11.94. Third on the hillside, she emerged with the lead when the field crossed the dirt onto the main portion of the turf course to lead by a half-length with a furlong remaining.

Teroda, sixth early, posed the biggest threat in the final sixteenth, but could not reach the winner. Teroda finished a neck in front of the 14-1 shot Remit, who was followed by Givine, Catchy Tune, Fifth Commandment, Elle Special, and Win for M’lou.

Unzip Me was scratched from Saturday’s Valentine Dancer Stakes in favor of the Wishing Well Stakes, which was restricted to fillies and mares that had not won a graded stakes since May 1, 2011. A 6-year-old mare by City Zip, Unzip Me has won 14 of 25 starts and $929,228.

All 10 of her stakes wins have been in turf sprints for owners John Harris, Don Valpredo, Per Antonsen, and Jones. She was third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint against males at Churchill Downs in November 2010.