Union Strike held for Megahertz

Paradise Woods and Unique Bella have midweek workouts scheduled at Santa Anita as they prepare to meet for the first time in the Grade 1, seven-furlong La Brea. Potential rivals in the $300,000 race for 3-year-old fillies include Princess Karen, Miss Sunset, Mopotism, Just a Little Hope, Bernina Star, and Marley’s Freedom.

Union Strike, 2016 winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, was nominated to the La Brea, but owner-trainer Mick Ruis said she will return Jan. 15 in the Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.

“I’m going to give her two more weeks. Everyone thinks she will love the turf,” Ruis said. Union Strike, sired by Union Rags and produced by a Smart Strike mare, has not raced since June, when she finished fifth in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park.

Champagne Room, the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and recently runner-up in the Grade 2 Bayakoa Stakes at Los Alamitos, also nominated to the La Brea but instead will run in either the Grade 2, $200,000 La Canada Stakes on Jan. 13 at Santa Anita, or Grade 3, $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 28 at Sam Houston.