Striking Dancer pulls La Canada upset

ARCADIA, Calif. - Striking Dancer encountered nothing but trouble in her local debut last month, but given a trouble-free trip on Sunday, she was able to pull off a 13-1 surprise in the for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

Striking Dancer ($28.60) came storming down the center of the track under jockey Alex Solis to defeat 17-1 shot Gripsholm Castle by 1 1/2 lengths, with Floating Heart another half-length back in third. Stardom Bound, the 2-1 favorite, finished seventh in the 11-horse field.

The win was the fourth in 11 starts for Striking Dancer, who is trained by Ken McPeek. It was her first stakes win. Striking Dancer came into the La Canada off a horrendous trip on turf in a money-allowance race on Jan. 8 in her first start on this circuit. Full of run the length of the stretch, she never got a clear path.

Switched back to a synthetic surface, she covered 1 1/8 miles on Pro-Ride in 1:48.48. She has finished in the money in all three of her starts on synthetic surfaces.