Smooth Like Strait looks to kick-start 2021 campaign in Mathis Brothers Mile

When Smooth Like Strait finished second by a head in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 28 at Del Mar, the race could have been the conclusion of a successful 3-year-old season that included three stakes wins.

In recent weeks, however, it became apparent that Smooth Like Strait was in condition for another start – Saturday’s Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.

“He came out of the Hollywood Derby in good order,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “I sat back and thought of running here on opening day.”

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Smooth Like Strait, a colt by Midnight Lute owned by Cannon Thoroughbreds, will be favored in the $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile, the first of six stakes on Saturday’s 11-race program. First post is 11 a.m. Pacific.

As much as the Mathis Brothers Mile is Smooth Like Strait’s final start of the year, McCarthy envisions the race as the start of a 4-year-old campaign with plans for appearances in two Grade 1 stakes at a mile on turf – the $400,000 Kilroe Mile on March 6 and the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile on March 31.

The gaps between starts could work to the benefit of Smooth Like Strait.

“It will give him time to grow out a little bit and grow up and get ready for an ambitious summer campaign,” McCarthy said.

Smooth Like Strait is one of four stakes winners in a field of seven in the Mathis Brothers Mile along with Field Pass, Storm the Court, and Strongconstitution.

Field Pass, trained in Kentucky by Mike Maker, has won five stakes this year and was third behind Smooth Like Strait in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita in October. Storm the Court, the champion 2-year-old male of 2019, is winless in seven starts this year and was second to Smooth Like Strait in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar in August. Strongconstitution was last of 11 in the Hollywood Derby at 37-1.

Heywoods Beach, Scarto, and Whisper Not are the other starters.

Heywoods Beach was second to Strongconstituion in the restricted Let It Ride Stakes on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Scarto was second in the Twilight Derby and sixth in the Hollywood Derby. Whisper Not was a game second in his American debut in an allowance race Nov. 29 at Del Mar and has attractive credentials for his stakes debut in the Mathis Brothers Mile.

Smooth Like Strait has won stakes this year at distances ranging from a mile to 1 1/8 miles on turf. In the Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles, Smooth Like Strait led in the final furlong, but could not hold off a late rally from the New York shipper Domestic Spending.

Smooth Like Strait was beaten a head. Umberto Rispoli was aboard for that race and wins in the La Jolla and Twilight Derby. Rispoli has the mount Saturday.

“Obviously, it was a tough beat,” McCarthy said of the Hollywood Derby. “I’ve always thought he was Grade 1 caliber.”

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Scarto was beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Smooth Like Strait in the Hollywood Derby, but only by 1 1/2 lengths in the Twilight Derby. Those races have left trainer Mike Puype hopeful that Scarto can play an important role in the Mathis Brothers Mile.

“This race comes up a little easier than the race at Del Mar,” Puype said last weekend. “The turf festival at Del Mar is always brutal.

“He didn’t embarrass himself. He didn’t get beat very far. We’re not without a chance in there.”

Lady of Shamrock Stakes

Miss Extra, a two-time stakes winner in France earlier this year, is part of a competitive field of 10 3-year-old fillies in the $75,000 Lady of Shamrock Stakes at a mile on turf.

The Lady of Shamrock is the final race on Saturday’s 11-race program.

Miss Extra, trained by Richard Mandella, was ninth of 11 in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in her American debut in August and has not raced since.

“We gave her a little to settle in and get a little break,” Mandella said.

Miss Extra won three races at a mile on turf in France in May and June, including the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham in June. She was ninth in the Group 1 French Oaks there in July, a race formally known as the Prix de Diane.

Warren’s Showtime, a three-time stakes winner on turf this year, is expected to be favored in the Lady of Shamrock. Trained by Craig Lewis, Warren’s Showtime won the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in October in her last start on turf.

The Lady of Shamrock is the stakes debut for On Mars, who has won three of her last four starts for trainer Phil D’Amato.