Take A Breath tunes up for Gamely with Royal Heroine win
?q=100)
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 4-year-old filly Take A Breath is showing this spring that she is an effective stayer and a miler in turf stakes at Santa Anita.
After winning the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on March 15, Take A Breath repeated the performance with a smart-looking win in the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on Saturday.
The wins are a prelude to an expected start in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 25.
Dismissed as the 9-2 fourth choice in the $102,000 Royal Heroine, Take A Breath had a positive trip under jockey Emisael Jaramillo, who kept the filly in a stalking position while wide on the backstretch.
Take A Breath ($11.20) advanced from fourth on the backstretch to second on the turn, tracking pacesetter Grand Slam Smile. Take A Breath ran past that rival to win by a half-length in 1:35.95, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 82.
May Day Ready, the 7-2 second choice, closed from sixth on the backstretch to finish second, a half-length in front of Grand Slam Smile, the 8-5 favorite. Tirupati, who raced on the inside for much of the race, finished fourth, beaten a mere 1 1/4 lengths.
A Thousand Miles finished fifth, followed by Watchtower, Ripassare, Innovative, and Rosie Jeeks.
Grand Slam Smile was favored on the strength of two stakes wins against California-breds earlier this year. She led by 1 1/2 lengths after a half-mile in 48.30 seconds in the Royal Heroine, but could not sustain her advantage in the stretch.
Take A Breath won for the fifth time in her 14th start on Saturday. She is trained by Mark Glatt, who missed Saturday’s race while in Kentucky preparing So Happy for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.
Imported from Britain last summer, Take A Breath was beaten in her first five starts in the United States from August to late January. The Santa Ana Stakes was her first stakes win. She has earned $194,670.
“She’s really improving each month,” said Tim Cohen of Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners, who co-owns Take A Breath with Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing.
Cohen said there was talk among the owners and Glatt about waiting to start Take A Breath in the Gamely. The filly’s condition since the Santa Ana Stakes led to a change of heart.
“We wanted to wait and (Mark) said she was training so well,” Cohen said.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.