Uncontrollable has turf experiment rained out

ARCADIA, Calif. – An experimental surface switch will have to wait for the most accomplished 3-year-old filly running Friday at Santa Anita, which does not change her status as most probable winner on the card.

Uncontrollable, a Grade 1-placed filly dropping Friday into a Cal-bred allowance, would tower over her rivals on any surface, even if the featured seventh race was run on turf as scheduled. However, two more inches of rain fell Tuesday evening, bringing the total to nine inches since last Thursday. The surface-switch experiment for the Michael McCarthy-trained Uncontrollable is on hold.

Santa Anita officials announced midweek that all three grass races Friday will be moved to the main track, including the race-7 Cal-bred allowance in which Uncontrollable remains the likely favorite. The turf-to-dirt switches also include race 5, a Cal-bred maiden race at a mile and one-eighth, and race 9, a starter allowance at one mile.

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The sliver of good news is that racing will in fact resume Friday. Santa Anita canceled racing last week following extended rainfall; the Friday card will be the first at Santa Anita since Feb. 20. During the unusually wet period, training schedules have been disrupted due to track closure or intermittent directives that allow horses to do no more than jog during training hours.

Storms over the past week arrived at an inopportune time, leading into a Saturday card that is one of the most important of the season. Four graded stakes are scheduled Saturday – Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf, Grade 2 San Felipe for 3-year-olds, and Grade 2 Buena Vista for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

As for Friday, although Uncontrollable is the most accomplished filly on the card, a maiden race that begins the program is equally significant. It includes three highly regarded fillies with stakes potential. Conquistar, Ruby Nell, and Sweet Trouble are the principals in race 1, at a mile on dirt.

Conquistar finished second as the odds-on favorite in her debut, earning an 83 Beyer. Sired by Quality Road and trained by Bob Baffert, Conquistar should vie for favoritism stretching from 6 1/2 furlongs to a route. Ruby Nell, a $1.2 million juvenile, also ran well first out. She broke slowly in the turf sprint, got shuffled back, rallied wide, and finished well for second. Richard Mandella is her trainer.

Sweet Trouble drops in class after finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes Stakes at a mile. Phil D’Amato trains the Into Mischief filly, who is the only starter with a recent route under her belt.

As for Uncontrollable, she was runner-up in a Grade 2 in fall, third in a Grade 1 in December, and finished fifth last out in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes.

Seven were entered in the entry-level Cal-bred allowance, including Big Hopes, Carole Lombard, Golden Again, and Nyvan.

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