Wild At Heart's Grade 1 debut likely in Santa Margarita

ARCADIA, Calif. - Wild At Heart, the winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Buena Vista Stakes, is likely to have her Grade 1 career debut in the $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita on March 18.

Wild At Heart won the first stakes of her career in the $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes for fillies and mares, which was switched from a mile on turf to dirt because of rain Friday and early Saturday.

Owned by Ramona Bass and trained by Richard Mandella, Wild At Heart started in her fifth consecutive stakes in the Buena Vista. Mandella said Sunday the timing and status of the Santa Margarita appeals to him over the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes, a $200,000 turf race at 1 1/8 miles March 12.

The Santa Margarita “gives me another week and I’m leaning that way,” he said. “Some day, I’d like to try the turf a little more.”

The Santa Margarita field is led by Vale Dori, the winner of three consecutive Grade 2 stakes since early December. Wild At Heart finished behind Vale Dori in two of those races – the Bayakoa Stakes at Del Mar in December and a fourth-place finish in the La Canada Stakes last month.

Wild At Heart has won 3 of 11 starts. She was second in two graded stakes last fall – the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes for sprinters here in October and the Bayakoa Stakes.

“We’ve been trying for awhile,” Mandella said of an elusive stakes win.

Wild At Heart won the Buena Vista Stakes as the 3-2 favorite, benefiting from a perfect trip under jockey Flavien Prat. Wild At Heart closed from third in a field of five to win by 3 1/2 lengths over Lily Pod. A 5-year-old mare by Indian Charlie, Wild At Heart has earned $331,205.