Warming's victory in Autumn Miss caps solid meet for jockey Hernandez
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ARCADIA, Calif. - A slow start arguably cost Warming a chance for a win in the Grade 3 John C. Harris Stakes for 3-year-old fillies in a turf sprint at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.
Another tardy start in Sunday’s Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf at Santa Anita was no hindrance. Warming recorded a breakthrough stakes win in a minor upset.
Closing from sixth in a field of nine, Warming had an ideal run between rivals at the top of the stretch under jockey Juan Hernandez. Warming led by a head over 95-1 pacesetter A Thousand Miles with a furlong remaining and won the $102,000 race by 1 3/4 lengths.
The victory gave Hernandez a sweep of the three stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday, the final two days of the track’s autumn meeting. The Del Mar autumn meeting begins on Thursday.
Hernandez was the leading rider at the Santa Anita autumn meeting. Warming, and Test Score, winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Twilight Derby, are trained by Maryland-based Graham Motion.
Warming ($12.40) was timed in 1:34.44 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 78. The Autumn Miss Stakes was her third win in seven starts. Previously, Warming’s best finish in a stakes was a third-place finish by three-quarters of a length in the Harris Stakes.
In the Autumn Miss, Hernandez had Warming on the inside for the first five furlongs, well behind A Thousand Miles, who set a modest pace of 22.78 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.63 for a half-mile.
Hernandez moved Warming closer to the front, and had ample racing room between Precise Timing and Lee’s Baby Girl turning into the stretch.
“She broke slightly slow and I went to the inside to save ground,” Hernandez said. “At the quarter-pole, I swung to the outside between them. I asked my filly to go through the hole and she kept going to the wire.”
A Thousand Miles, a minor stakes winner at Turf Paradise and Prairie Meadows earlier this year, finished second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of 71-1 Precise Timing.
The $1 exacta returned a hearty $577, while the $1 trifecta was worth $3,099.50.
Wink and a Grin finished fourth, followed by 9-5 favorite Slick, Take A Breath, Firenze Flavor, Innovative and Lee’s Baby Girl.
Warming, by Global Campaign, races for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. She has earned $191,000.
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