Trio of Friday winners headed for stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Xoxo, Baruta, and Zipessa are bound for stakes later this summer after impressive wins in optional-claiming and allowance races Friday at Del Mar.

Baruta won a six-furlong allowance race for fillies and mares by 3 3/4 lengths, closing from last of six under jockey Flavien Prat. She was timed in 1:09.61, winning on dirt for the first time since the 2012 season in Brazil at the start of her career.

“It was a race we wanted to try, and it worked,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

The win is expected to lead to a start in the $100,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs Aug. 16.

Baruta, 6, has won 5 of 18 starts. She won an optional claimer on the hillside turf course June 11 at Santa Anita and raced on turf earlier this year.

Zipessa is unbeaten in two starts after winning her turf debut in an optional claimer at a mile for 3-year-old fillies. Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Zipessa was well placed throughout and pulled away late to win by 2 3/4 lengths. She was timed in 1:35.34.

Owned by Empyrean Stables, Zipessa won her debut in a six-furlong maiden race on the synthetic track May 31 at Arlington. On Saturday, trainer Mike Stidham said turf races for 3-year-olds such as the $80,000 Sandy Blue Handicap at a mile Aug. 14 and the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 15 will be considered.

“She had only sprinted, but everything about her said two turns,” Stidham said. “I didn’t know she’d come away from them like that at the end. That was a nice surprise. I thought it was a decent group. The logical plan would be the Sandy Blue, but I’m not going to rule anything out.”

Xoxo returned from a layoff of more than six months to win an optional claimer at five furlongs on turf. Xoxo stalked the pace, led by 2 1/2 lengths with a furlong to go and held on to prevail by three-quarters of a length over Ramona’s Wildcat. The optional claimer was her first start against older fillies and mares.

Trained by Peter Miller for a partnership, Xoxo had not raced since finishing a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in January. On Saturday, Miller said races such as the $80,000 Daisycutter Handicap for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf and the $400,000 Presque Isle Masters at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania on Sept. 7 are possibilities for Xoxo.

Xoxo was the first Del Mar winner for jockey Flavien Prat, 22, who began riding full time in California last winter. A native of France, Prat previously had ridden in California in recent winters and in France for the rest of the year.