Swift Lady looms large in Sweet Life Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. – The featured race Sunday at Santa Anita is easy. Swift Lady, if she runs two alike, figures to wire the $75,000 Sweet Life Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Nine entered the turf sprint, race 8 on a card that includes an allowance prep for the Santa Anita Handicap. Race 3 is the comeback for Prospect Park and a class challenge for Follow Me Crev. Either or both could join the Big Cap field on March 12.
As for the Sweet Life, Swift Lady is likely to start favored based on a sharp downhill optional-claiming win last out. The front-runner is the controlling speed again Sunday, facing the late runner Jeremy’s Legacy, bred-for-turf Decked Out, and presser Uptown Twirl.
While the significance of a midwinter turf sprint for fillies is minimal, bettors playing multirace wagers won’t mind a low-odds standout Sunday. From post 8 of 9, positioned outside of pace rival Uptown Twirl, Swift Lady looks like the most probable winner on the card.
The stakes is named for the Grade 1-placed Sweet Life, who was named Broodmare of the Year in 2009. Bred to Storm Cat, Sweet Life produced 2004 champion 2-year-old filly Sweet Catomine, 2009 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Life Is Sweet, and multiple stakes winner Calimonco.
KEY CONTENDERS
Swift Lady, by Awesome of Course
Last 3 Beyers: 85-67-68
◗ Bob Baffert trains Swift Lady, who entered the Jan. 15 first-level turf optional claimer with the idea that the race might be rained off and moved to dirt. It stayed on turf, Swift Lady stayed in, and she wired the field at $46.80, the highest Baffert win payoff in at least five years.
◗ Martin Garcia rides Swift Lady, who has won 2 of 3 career starts. Garcia and Baffert entered Friday as the meet’s leading jockey-trainer combination, having won 6 of 20.
Decked Out, by Street Boss
Last 3 Beyers: 72-63-64
◗ Keith Desormeaux trains Decked Out, scratched from the Grade 2 Las Virgenes last week to go in this easier spot. Kent Desormeaux will ride.
◗ Decked Out, who is 1 for 7 and is graded stakes-placed, has never started on turf. However, she was sired by Street Boss, whose progeny often improve on turf.
◗ The most recent start by Decked Out was a third-place finish Jan. 18 in a first-level optional claimer on dirt.
Jeremy’s Legacy, by Danehill Dancer
Last 3 Beyers: 79-67-77
◗ A closer, she was the beaten favorite while second in the optional claimer won by Swift Lady.
◗ Doug O’Neill trains Jeremy’s Legacy, a 1-for-5 Irish import who scored a smashing U.S. debut win Nov. 21 in a maiden special weight race at Del Mar. Rafael Bejarano rides.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Jeremy’s Legacy. Trainer Doug O’Neill is 37-2-3-8 with a $0.93 ROI over the past five years in turf sprints in the second start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Uptown Twirl, by Twirling Candy
Last 3 Beyers: 73-62-74
◗ Uptown Twirl and Swift Lady are the only two-time winners in the Sweet Life. John Sadler trains Uptown Twirl, a last-out optional-claiming winner on dirt under Abel Lezcano, who retains the mount Sunday.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Uptown Twirl. Trainer John Sadler is 23-1-3-5 with a $0.13 ROI over the past five years going dirt to turf with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 9 Nodiac. Trainer Phil D’Amato is 10-5-1-3 with a $8.70 ROI at the current Santa Anita meet in turf sprints down the hill. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan