Singing Kitty changes her tune for Oaks

ARCADIA, Calif. – Earlier this week, owners Chris Aulds and Peter Jeong and trainer Matt Chew were considering running Singing Kitty on Saturday in either the $150,000 Providencia Stakes on turf or the more prestigious $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks, a Grade 1 dirt race at 1 1/16 miles.

With two turf stakes wins this year, Singing Kitty will try a new challenge in the Santa Anita Oaks. A Tuesday evening conversation between Aulds and Chew clinched the plan, Chew said Wednesday.

“He’s a good handicapper, and I trust his judgment,” Chew said. “Based on what we’ve seen, it’s a good opportunity to try a Grade 1. I think going forward through the rest of the year, those races will only get tougher.”

Claimed for $32,000 last December, Singing Kitty has won 4 of 8 starts and earned $235,378 in her career. A California-bred by Ministers Wild Cat, Singing Kitty has won twice on dirt – a maiden special weight at five furlongs for 2-year-old fillies last June and the $32,000 claimer at Los Alamitos in December. She was trained by Steve Miyadi at the time.

Singing Kitty’s two stakes wins have been at a mile on turf – the California Cup Oaks on Jan. 24 and the China Doll Stakes on March 7. In both races, she closed from the middle of the field and drew off by at least a length. Those results have encouraged the team to try the Oaks.

“Realistically, we think we can be in the top 3,” Chew said. “If we didn’t feel it, we wouldn’t run there.”

The Oaks field is led by Stellar Wind, who won her California debut in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes on Feb. 28. Other projected runners are Curlin’s Fox, Glory, Light the City, Luminance, She’s a Big Winner, and Wild at Heart.

Light the City, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, was second in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes behind Callback on Jan. 31 and second to Stellar Wind in the Santa Ysabel.

The Santa Anita Oaks is one of two Grade 1 races on Saturday’s program, which begins at noon Pacific.

The day’s top race is the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, which has a projected field of six: Bad Read Sanchez, Bolo, Cross the Line, Dortmund, One Lucky Dane, and Prospect Park. Dortmund, unbeaten in five starts, including three stakes, will be a strong favorite in the Grade 1 race at 1 1/8 miles.

There are four other stakes on the program, including two $200,000 races for California-bred 3-year-old sprinters at 6 1/2 furlongs: the Echo Eddie Stakes for both sexes and the Evening Jewel Stakes for fillies.