Taris on track for Santa Margarita

ARCADIA, Calif. – Taris, the winner of the Grade 2 La Canada Stakes in January, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 on Friday for a scheduled start in the $500,000 Santa Margarita Invitational at Santa Anita on March 19.

Taris worked alone. Trainer Simon Callaghan timed the 5-year-old mare in 1:01.40. He clocked her galloping out six furlongs in “1:13 and change.”

“She’s so much more relaxed in her works,” Callaghan said.

After the work, Callaghan said that Taris has progressed enough from a recent illness for her to start in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita at 1 1/8 miles on the main track for fillies and mares.

There were 107 works on the main track Friday. The four-time stakes winner Distinctiv Passion worked five furlongs in 58.20 seconds, the quickest of 46 works at the distance.

Trainer Jeff Bonde said that Distinctiv Passion had a bruised hind foot detected after a sixth-place finish in the Grade 3 Midnight Lute Stakes here on Jan. 2.

“It took a while to get it right,” Bonde said.

Distinctiv Passion is a candidate for the $100,000 Los Angeles Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos on April 16.