Selcourt takes Las Flores in graded stakes debut

ARCADIA, Calif. - Selcourt is rising rapidly through California’s female sprint division this winter.

After winning her 4-year-old debut in the minor Kalookan Queen Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Jan. 14, Selcourt won her graded stakes debut in Sunday’s $100,345 Las Flores Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

Ridden by Tyler Baze, Selcourt was always near the front and won by three-quarters of a length over Coniah. Skye Diamonds, fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar in November, finished third.

Sent off as the favorite, Selcourt ($4.20) ran six furlongs in 1:09.65 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100. Trainer John Sadler said he was surprised by the pressure Selcourt faced from Coniah through the first half-mile, and briefly from Princess Karen in the opening quarter-mile.

“I didn’t think the other fillies would send as hard as they did,” Sadler said. “We had enough to put them away and hold off the closer.

“It looked like it would finish that way on paper.”

Selcourt was part of a speed duel through fractions of 21.54 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.52 for a half-mile.

“She had a good post and Tyler did a good job,” Sadler said.

Coniah, who won the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes on the hillside turf course Jan. 20, stayed within a head of Selcourt until the final furlong under jockey Kent Desormeaux.

“Kent said she tried to come back two or three times,” Morey said.

The Las Flores Stakes was the first start for Skye Diamonds since the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, in which she finished 3 1/2 lengths behind surprise winner Bar of Gold.

“Maybe she got a little tired at the end,” trainer Bill Spawr said. “She had to go wider than he wanted. It was a good start.”

The first two finishers are likely to have a rematch in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on March 24. The race may include Paradise Woods, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2017

Selcourt, by Tiz Wonderful, has won 3 of 5 starts and earned $163,920. Selcourt was bred by Keith Abrahams, who co-owns the filly with Medallion Racing and Sandra Lazaruk. Last spring, Selcourt was sidelined with an injury after finishing second and third in two minor sprint stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

The Kalookan Queen Stakes and Las Flores Stakes are her only starts since returning to racing.