Warren's Showtime ends skid with Wilshire victory
ARCADIA, Calif. - Six consecutive losses aboard Warren’s Showtime left top jockey Juan Hernandez aggravated in the buildup to Sunday’s Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita.
Since early November, Hernandez rode Warren’s Showtime to second- or third-place finishes in stakes, losing by as little as a half-length and by as much as 3 3/4 lengths.
Hernandez made a slight strategic change for Sunday’s $101,500 Wilshire Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Santa Anita. On the turn, Hernandez had Warren’s Showtime moving well from the back of a field of eight, a little earlier than normal. Hernandez was not worried when Warren’s Showtime’s rally carried her wide.
“I was going to make my move at the quarter-mile,” Hernandez said. “She was going along.
“She switched leads and I hit her a couple of times and she took off.”
Warren’s Showtime’s momentum carried her to the front in the Wilshire Stakes in the final sixteenth. The 4-year-old filly won by 1 1/4 lengths over 7-2 Leggs Galore, who set the pace.
Sent off favored, Warren’s Showtime ($6) was timed in 1:34.29, winning the sixth stakes of her career in her 20th start.
Leggs Galore and Warren’s Showtime finished first and second in the $98,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at a mile on turf on May 9 and translated that form in the Wilshire against open company.
Hernandez said Warren’s Showtime’s loss in the Fran’s Valentine was a stinger.
“I should have moved a little earlier,” Hernandez said. “Last time, I didn’t get it.”
On Sunday, Leggs Galore set a quick pace of 22.45 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and a half-mile in 45.97 under jockey Ricky Gonzalez, but could not hold off Warren’s Showtime.
“He rode her to win the race,” D’Amato said of Gonzalez. “She got beat by a better horse.”
Leggs Galore finished a neck in front of 6-1 Brooke, who was followed by Ippodamia’s Girl, Querelle, Gidgetta, Quiet Secretary, and Stela Star.
Warren’s Showtime, trained by Craig Lewis for Ben and Sally Warren, has won seven races and has earned $697,431. Warren’s Showtime is by the Candy Ride stallion Clubhouse Ride.