Taris joins Beholder, Stellar Wind in Vanity

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 Vanity on June 4 at Santa Anita, previously billed as a showdown between champions Beholder and Stellar Wind, will be more than a two-horse race.

Taris, who crushed the Grade 1, seven-furlong Humana Distaff last Saturday at Churchill Downs, will stretch back out to two turns for the Vanity, trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday.

“Obviously, we wish the race was seven-eighths,” Callaghan said. “If it was a mile and an eighth, we wouldn’t, but the fact it is a mile … definitely.”

Previously run at 1 1/8 miles, the Vanity was shortened this year to one mile, within reach for Taris. She won the one-mile Go For Wand Stakes at Aqueduct and the 1 1/16-mile La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita before finishing second in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita. When she cut back to seven furlongs for the Humana Distaff, she won by 5 3/4 lengths.

“It’s pretty remarkable you can be that good at seven-eighths and just get beat at a mile and an eighth,” Callaghan said. “She was really good at a mile and an eighth, but she is exceptional at seven-eighths.”

Taris, 8 for 13 with earnings of $1,086,250, jogged Wednesday at Santa Anita, where Callaghan hopes she ends her 2016 campaign by winning the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Last fall at Keeneland, Taris finished a troubled third in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

Taris will make two or three starts before the Breeders’ Cup. Following the Vanity, plans call for her to ship to Saratoga for the Grade 1, seven-furlong Ballerina on Aug. 27. Afterward, she will either train into the Filly and Mare Sprint or prep once during the fall meet at Santa Anita.