Tyler Baze sweeps weekend stakes at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Tyler Baze's sweep of the weekend stakes at Santa Anita did not come easily.

A day after winning the La Puente Stakes aboard Battle of Hastings, Baze guided Gotta Have Her to a nose win in the $100,000 Las Cienegas Handicap for fillies and mares.

Gotta Have Her ($13.40) overcame a stumble at the start to win the Grade 3 Las Cienegas over Reba Is Tops, a 16-1 shot. Tuscan Evening, the 3-5 favorite who was seeking her third consecutive win, finished third after leading to the final furlong.

Baze kept Gotta Have Her in seventh in the first quarter-mile and did not move closer to the leaders until the field crossed onto the main turf course. She reached the front in the final few strides.

Owned by Richard Masson's Green Lantern Stable and trained by Jenine Sahadi, Gotta Have Her won the most prestigious stakes of her career in the Las Cienegas. She won the Harold Ramser Handicap here in October 2007, and was second in three stakes in 2008.

"When she stumbled, I just had to sit there and let her tell me what she wanted to do," Baze said. "Jenine said, 'Don't move until you get back on the grass.' So I waited until we crossed. I hit her a few times and she just flew home."

A 5-year-old mare by Royal Academy, Gotta Have Her has won 6 of 18 starts and $396,023.