Warren's Showtime takes Autumn Miss, gives trainer Lewis 1,000th win

ARCADIA, Calif. - Warren’s Showtime displayed a brilliant late kick to win the fifth stakes of her career, and first in a graded stakes, in Saturday’s Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita.

The win gave trainer Craig Lewis his 1,000th career win.

Lewis watched in admiration as Warren’s Showtime ($3.40) closed from fourth in the final furlong to prevail by a neck over 14-1 Going to Vegas.

“This filly is really something,” Lewis said as he left the winner’s circle.

“I thought she was well placed. She has a wicked turn of foot. When she got into gear, I felt more comfortable.”

Owned by Ben and Sally Warren, Warren’s Showtime ran a mile on turf in 1:33.77 and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 89.
The $101,000 Autumn Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies was her sixth win in 13 starts. Warren’s Showtime has earned $520,251. Her first four stakes wins were in two stakes for California-breds and two non-graded stakes.

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Leading rider Flavien Prat rode Warren’s Showtime for the first time Saturday. Prat positioned Warren’s Showtime in fifth for the first six furlongs, well behind 18-1 Quiet Secretary, who set a quick pace of 22.50 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.42 for a half-mile.

Warren’s Showtime was wide on the turn, and trailed stretch leader Nasty by 2 1/2 lengths with a furlong remaining. Prat said Warren’s Showtime needed the entire stretch to catch Going to Vegas, who contended for the lead briefly in the stretch. Nasty (7-1) finished third, beaten three-quarters of a length.

“They didn’t stop on the lead,” Prat said. “I thought they would stop. When I asked her to make a move, she responded well.”

Going to Vegas, a $50,000 claim on June 12, and Nasty, a recent arrival from Indiana, started in a graded stakes for the first time in the Autumn Miss. Going to Vegas and Nasty are trained by Richard Baltas.

Guitty finished fourth, followed by Croughavouke, Quiet Secretary, and Mind Out.

Warren’s Showtime, by the Lewis-trained Clubhouse Ride, was third in her first two starts in graded stakes – the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile at Del Mar on July 25 and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 22. She led in the final furlong of the Del Mar Oaks before finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind Red Lark.

Lewis, 73, has trained since 1981. He has won such major races as the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 1995 with Larry the Legend, the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup with Cutlass Reality in 1988, and the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes with Music Merci in 1989.

More recently, Lewis’s leading runners have been Clubhouse Ride, the winner of two graded stakes in 2012, and Warren’s Veneda, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Maria Stakes in 2015 and the dam of Warren’s Showtime.

“I’ve had a number of good horses and a lot of good owners,” Lewis said. “I feel very fortunate to be in this position.”