Skye Diamonds, Finest City highlight Great Lady M.

Skye Diamonds was within a half-length of the multiple stakes winner Vale Dori at the finish of the Grade 3 Adoration Stakes at Santa Anita on May 7. Since that second-place finish, trainer Bill Spawr has been delighted with the way Skye Diamonds has recovered from that race and progressed through the spring.

“She acts better,” Spawr said on Monday. “She’s put on weight, she’s happier, eats more.

“She finishes stronger, has more muscle tone – everything.”

Skye Diamonds will start Saturday in a graded stakes for the second time in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos. Similar to the Adoration Stakes, the $200,000 Great Lady M. will be a class test for Skye Diamonds. The race is led by Finest City, the 2016 champion female sprinter.

Tyler Baze will ride Finest City. Baze rode Finest City when she finished second to Vale Dori in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes on March 18. Mike Smith has ridden Finest City regularly since last November but is riding in New York on Saturday.

Skye Diamonds has been a remarkable filly in the last year. Owned by the partnership of Tom Acker, Allen Racing, and Bloom Racing, Skye Diamonds was claimed for $40,000 at Del Mar last August. Since then, she has won four of six starts, including the Dream of Summer Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at a mile at Santa Anita on March 26. She has earned $209,100 since being claimed.

“I hate to say this, but I think she’s getting better,” Spawr said.

Other probable starters for the Great Lady M. Stakes include Avicii, Constellation, Cuddle Alert, Pretty N Cool, and Shenandoah Queen.