The 12 horses that trainer Jonathan Thomas brought to California this year was designed largely to take advantage of wintertime turf racing at Santa Anita. The stable had its first winner of the year with Mirari in a maiden race on turf last Sunday, and can win its first stakes with Mouffy in Saturday’s Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf. Mouffy, a 5-year-old mare owned by George Strawbridge’s Augustin Stable, will have her American graded stakes debut in the $100,000 Megahertz Stakes. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Last October, Mouffy finished fourth by a length in the Grade 3 Ontario Matron Stakes on the synthetic track at Woodbine, near Toronto, and followed with a second as the 2-3 favorite in the My Charmer Stakes on the synthetic track at Turfway Park on Dec. 9. Last August, Mouffy won the Ellis Park Turf Stakes at 1 1/16 miles in her stakes debut, closing through traffic to win by a length. The strength of that win gives the 43-year-old Thomas confidence that Mouffy can be a factor in the Megahertz Stakes. “She showed a good turn of foot,” Thomas said from his Kentucky base on Wednesday. Mouffy’s last few starts were an experiment, of sorts. “She’s efficient on the synthetic,” he said. “I don’t know we have a body of work that shows that is her preferred surface.” Mouffy will face her toughest test in the Megahertz, a race led by Closing Remarks, a four-time graded stakes winner in 2023. The Megahertz is one of four stakes on a Saturday program led by two $200,000 stakes – the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, and the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile. The Lewis Stakes is a prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6. Thomas, best known for winning the 2018 Travers Stakes with Catholic Boy, said his California stable is soon to grow to 15 runners, and could stay in Southern California past the winter. “We have horses that fit out there well,” he said. “We really like the turf course. “We’re trying to put our horses in the best place to thrive over the winter. If it goes well, I’d like to hang around a bit longer. We’ve shipped out and done well shipping out there.” Last June, Thomas won his first stakes at Santa Anita with Selenaia in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf. The current team includes Twirling Point, who was third in the Eddie Logan Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf on Dec. 29; Uncle Truly, a maiden race winner at Woodbine in October, who was 11th of 12 in the Central Park Stakes at a mile on turf at Aqueduct in November in his stakes debut; and Selenaia. Twirling Point is under consideration for the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 10. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.