Stripped of stakes by schedule shuffling, card still has intrigue

ARCADIA, Calif. – Lingering effects of rain cancellations and postponements this winter at Santa Anita continue Sunday with an eight-race, no-stakes weekend card. It was not planned that way.

The $100,000 Las Virgenes for 3-year-old fillies was initially scheduled for Sunday and would have featured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner. Super Corredora will wait another week because the Las Virgenes was moved to next Sunday.

The reason for the delay is that Santa Anita’s first stakes for 3-year-old fillies, the seven-furlong Santa Ynez, was postponed by rain from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10. Santa Anita subsequently rescheduled the one-mile Las Virgenes from Feb. 1 to Feb. 8 to allow sufficient time between races.

An extra week will not matter for Super Corredora, who is on schedule for her comeback.

“I won’t have any excuses training-wise,” trainer John Sadler said. “We’ve really lucked out. We’ve got our works in between weather. She’s had the time. She seems plenty bright and fresh.”

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Super Corredora is scheduled for her final breeze Sunday morning under jockey Hector Berrios. Sunday afternoon, 3-year-old fillies compete in a pair of maiden special weight races on a quiet card that includes a first-level Cal-bred allowance for fillies and mares.

Race 2 is a maiden race at a mile on dirt. Wolf Hill is expected to start favored after a runner-up finish in which she was 9 1/4 lengths clear of third.

“I think she’s sitting on a winning race,” trainer Leonard Powell said. “Last time was her first time going long, and the horse that beat her had gone long before.”

An upset candidate lurks in Ethereal Quality, a Quality Road filly who stretches out from a pair of even-paced sprints for trainer Neil Drysdale. Two turns should be ideal. Berrios is her rider.

Race 5 is for maiden fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf. The principals include European import Silkie Sevei, trouble-prone Surfin’ U. S. A., and second-start longshot Red Cherry.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said Silkie Sevei “was training heads-up with that filly [Struck by Her] that won first time out [on Jan. 11].”

D’Amato said Silkie Sevei “probably is going to be better suited for long, but she shows enough tactical speed and she’s got a little turn of foot.”

Emisael Jaramillo rides. D’Amato also entered Not With a Fox, who he believes wants two turns.

Surfin’ U. S. A., trained by Powell, has been unlucky. On Nov. 29 at Del Mar, she lost a shoe in the gate, got keen, and finished 10th. On Jan. 11 at Santa Anita, she was blocked in traffic and finished fourth in a sprint. With clear sailing Sunday, Surfin’ U. S. A. fits perfectly.

The longshot gamble is the Sadler-trained second-time starter Red Cherry, who dueled and faded in her debut on dirt. Sadler said the Rock Your World filly has changed since.

“Red Cherry really perked up. I think she’s going to move way up on the turf,” Sadler said. “The other filly is nice, too.”

That filly, Acoustic Kitty, by No Nay Never, makes her debut for Sadler’s barn in the same race.

Race 8 is a six-furlong dirt sprint for Cal-bred fillies and mares in which five-time winner Stay in Line meets comeback runner-up Miss Practical.

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