Santa Ynez features a few comers

ARCADIA, Calif. – An unexceptional 2-year-old filly division last season in California might be revived Saturday by a pair of fillies who threaten to emerge as top 3-year-olds.

Big Switch only faced Cal-breds winning both her starts; Miss Mattie B only ran well after switching to turf. Yet they are key entrants in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes, seven furlongs on dirt, which should bolster the 3-year-old filly division at Santa Anita.

Six are entered in the $200,000 Santa Ynez, race 8. They include maiden winner Under the Stars, Golden Gate stakes winner Mimajoon, graded-placed Awake at Midnyte, and Big Shamrock. Under the Stars won an apparently strong maiden race last out, but Big Switch and Miss Mattie B enter as the principal starters in the Santa Ynez.

Big Switch began her career in late August, already with an advantage over her peers. “She never looked like a 2-year-old,” trainer John Sadler said. “Even though we had her in last year at 2, she never looked like one. She’s a big, strong filly.”

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She is a beast. Big Switch stands 16-2 hands, and she also is fast. She circled the field to win her debut by 1 1/2 lengths at Del Mar. She decisively won the seven-furlong Golden State Juvenile Stakes by nearly three lengths in November at Del Mar.

George Krikorian bred and owns the daughter of Mr. Big, whose rider is John Velazquez. Big Switch worked super last weekend at Santa Anita, in company with an overmatched stablemate, and will use the Santa Ynez as a launch point for distance racing in 2022.

“We’re following the calendar,” Sadler said. “After this, she’ll go long, which I think will be even better for her.”

The one-mile Grade 3 Las Virgenes on Feb. 6 is a possible spot for her.

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Miss Mattie B scored a convincing maiden win last out in her fourth start, which came in a turf route, and has improved since moving from dirt. But trainer Bob Hess Jr. and jockey Mike Smith believe her improvement was due to maturation, rather than footing preference.

“We all think she loves the dirt,” Hess said. “Mike Smith is no dummy; he likes her on dirt. The distance probably bothers me more than the surface.”

Smith worked Miss Maddie B twice recently on dirt, and is convinced she handles the footing.

Westlake Racing Syndicate owns Miss Mattie B, whose immediate future will be long on dirt. “We’ll try to allow her to be a dirt horse, because that’s really where the money is the next six months,” Hess said. “Two turns, for sure.”

Hess popped Miss Mattie B from the gate Monday morning, “just to have her a little more tuned to what she needs to do going seven-eighths.”

She breaks from the outside post in the six-runner field on Saturday.

Under the Stars won a maiden sprint last out over Miss Everything, a favorite Friday in race 8 for maidens. Under the Stars is trained by Bob Baffert; her rider is Flavien Prat.