Vale Dori looks to prove she's still got it in Santa Lucia

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita is winding down. Perhaps so is the millionaire mare Vale Dori.

Before closing day of the Santa Anita season on Sunday, a $75,000 stakes race on Friday will determine the future of an outstanding mare who once could have won the restricted Santa Lucia Stakes in her sleep.

Vale Dori, however, has not returned to her peak form of 2017, when she ranked among the country’s elite females after winning six straight races, including a Grade 1 and four other graded stakes. Two starts into 2018, Vale Dori is a puzzle. She finished next to last in both starts. Maybe she needed her comeback. Maybe the pace was too fast in her next start. Maybe she wants to be a broodmare.

“What happened is she’s missed the break twice now, which is not her,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “She needs to break; she needs to get into the race.”

The Santa Lucia is an ideal spot for Vale Dori to return to form. The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares is restricted to nonwinners of a stakes since last June. Vale Dori is the class of the field, and the fastest, if year-old form is applicable.

“I remember when I got her [from Dubai in 2016], it took her a while to get going,” Baffert said.

He acknowledged that the Santa Lucia is a “very important race,” but the calendar is against Vale Dori. “It is too late to breed her,” Baffert said.

Her rivals include first-level allowance winners Life’s Blessings, Yuvetsi, and Dalsaros; second-level allowance winners Mistressofthenight and Bernina Star; and stakes winner Dreamarcher, whose six wins were on synthetic or turf.

Mistressofthenight is worth gambling on despite two subpar recent starts. Trainer Richard Baltas expects a return to form.

“She doesn’t want to be up close,” Baltas said. “If she gets relaxed and sits back, I think maybe she is going to do some good.”

The Santa Lucia is race 7 on the eight-race card.

KEY CONTENDERS

Vale Dori, by Asiatic Boy
Last 3 Beyers: 82-85-102

◗ A 6-year-old, Vale Dori has won nine races and $1,160,943 from 18 starts. Her best efforts last year were runner-up finishes by a neck to Stellar Wind in a pair of Grade 1 races.

Mistressofthenight, by Midnight Lute
Last 3 Beyers: 65-73-77

◗ She shipped to Kentucky this spring but did not adjust to the racing surfaces, according to Baltas. She finished seventh in an allowance race in her only start in Kentucky.

“I said, ‘Let’s bring her back home and start over,’ ” Baltas said. “I think she’s doing really well.”

◗ Flavien Prat has worked her and rides her for the first time in a race.

Yuvetsi, by Bodemeiser
Last 3 Beyers: 77-81-84

◗ John Sadler trains Yuvetsi, who stretches out beyond a sprint on dirt for the first time.

“By pedigree, she should be okay,” Sadler said. “I’ve always wanted to stretch her out.”

Bernina Star, by Harlan’s Holiday
Last 3 Beyers: 88-81-85

◗ She stretches out following a sharp turf-sprint comeback victory for trainer Jim Cassidy.

Life’s Blessings, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 66-79-87

◗ A stablemate of Vale Dori, Life’s Blessings finished fourth at odds-on at Churchill Downs in her most recent start, but has worked well since.