Singletary Stakes, debuting daughter of Beholder among highlights of Saturday card

ARCADIA, Calif. – A lot more is happening Saturday at Santa Anita than a small-field $100,000 stakes race for 3-year-olds on turf.

Sumter, trained by Richard Mandella, seeks his second stakes win as the likely favorite in the Singletary, race 3, which is a prelude to another noteworthy Mandella runner on Saturday. Karin With an I, a filly produced by Beholder, launches her career going six furlongs in race 8. Her works are solid.

“She has trained well, but I think she might want to go farther,” Mandella said. “I’m just hoping to get a nice start in her. I think she’ll improve when I go two turns.”

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Sired by Curlin, Karin With an I faces stakes-placed maiden Lady T and second-time starter Family Affair. Karin With an I has shown gate speed in the morning, but Mandella will instruct jockey Juan Hernandez to not rush her.

“I’d like to get her out of there, get her comfortable, and then hopefully finish good,” Mandella said.

Sumter looks formidable in the Singletary against a pair trained by Phil D’Amato. Balnikhov comes from France and makes his U.S. debut with strong workouts, while Almanera had a brutal trip finishing sixth in his only U.S. start.

The five-runner Singletary field also includes Handy Dandy and the Doug O’Neill-trained Durante, a pace rival for Sumter. O’Neill starts runners in all nine races Saturday, which he said is a first. At least five could vie for favoritism – Beef Winslow, race 1; Mongolian Legend, race 2; Bella Renella, race 4; Soy Tapatio, race 6; and Hail Freedom, race 8.

In his last start, Sumter won the Feb. 19 Pasadena Stakes, a turf mile that was his first route and first start in three months. Though he benefitted by a soft trip setting an easy pace, he also ran his final quarter-mile in a solid 23.28 seconds. If he avoids a head-and-head duel with Durante, Sumter may win right back under new rider Mike Smith.

Balnikhov, who won three of his last four starts in France, arrived here in February.

“It didn’t take him long to find his way,” D’Amato said. “Each breeze has been better than the previous. He’s ready to go.”

Hernandez rides Balnikhov.

Almanera was beaten 6 1/4 lengths in an allowance sprint on the turf here Feb. 26.

“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” D’Amato said. “You just have to hit the reset button.”

The most likely D’Amato winner Saturday might be in race 5, an entry-level allowance at a mile on turf.

Gold Phoenix, who won his only start last year, before he relocated from Europe to the United States, stretches out following a pair of runner-up efforts in allowance sprints here. Can he go two turns?

“I think so,” D’Amato said. “We bought him with that in mind. He’s a big, strong horse and he looks like a two-turn horse.”