Wilshire could end up a mad scramble to the wire
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Quattroelle won consecutive graded stakes at a mile in February and March at Santa Anita before she was deliberately held out of the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes on April 1.
With major stakes looming next month, Quattroelle returns in Sunday’s Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes, showing the enthusiasm in daily training that led to her recent stakes wins.
“Everything is pretty much the same,” trainer Jeff Mullins said Friday. “She loves to train. We didn’t give her a whole lot of time after her last race.
“I might have gone a little bit easier on the track for a few days. She’s kept right to the beat.”
That may not be what rival owners and trainers would prefer to hear.
Quattroelle will start from the outside post in a field of seven fillies and mares in the $100,000 Wilshire Stakes at a mile on turf. Quattroelle won the Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes in February and Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes in March.
In the Wilshire, Quattroelle has two key rivals in Closing Remarks, who was third in the Megahertz and Buena Vista, and Rhea Moon, who has not started since a win in the Grade 1 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on turf Dec. 26.
They start in the Wilshire in advance of intended appearances in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes, a $500,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on May 29.
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Quattroelle, owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal, will be ridden by Hector Berrios, who has been aboard the 5-year-old mare in her six starts since last August. Quattroelle has won three of those races and been second or third in the other three starts.
In the two recent wins, Quattroelle has rallied from off the pace.
To win the Wilshire, Quattroelle must catch Canoodling, who led throughout the 2022 Wilshire. Canoodling has had one start this year, finishing a troubled fifth in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes on dirt on April 8, a race originally scheduled for turf.
Very Scary, third in the Royal Heroine, also is capable of racing from the front.
Closing Remarks has a similar style as Quattroelle. Trained by Carla Gaines, Closing Remarks won the Royal Heroine with a sustained rally through the stretch, pulling clear by 1 1/2 lengths. She was a troubled third in the Buena Vista, losing by 1 1/2 lengths to Quattroelle.
Rhea Moon was strongly considered for the Royal Heroine before trainer Phil D’Amato opted to train the 4-year-old through April.
“I took my time and made sure I had her fit,” he said. “I almost ran her in the last stakes. I think she’s pretty fit now. We’ll use this race as a stepping-stone for the Gamely.”
Rhea Moon has won her last three starts, including the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes at a mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies last October.
Similar to her older rivals, Rhea Moon is a closer, which could make for an intense final furlong in the Wilshire.
“I think we’ve finally figured out her best style,” D’Amato said. “It’s nice to see how much scope she shows in her races. She can go a mile to a mile and quarter.”
Santa Barbara
It takes about a mile for Duvet Day to get going. At 1 1/2 miles, she can be particularly lethal as she showed with a 13-1 upset in the Astra Stakes at Santa Anita in January.
Duvet Day closed from last of seven to finish third in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on March 12 and returns to a race at 1 1/2 miles on turf in Sunday’s $100,000 Santa Barbara Stakes for fillies and mares.
“A mile and a half seems to be right in her wheelhouse,” trainer Michael McCarthy said Friday. “I thought her last race was good. Even though it was a little shorter, I thought she ran a good race.”
Leading rider Juan Hernandez rides Duvet Day in the Santa Barbara, which drew a field of seven. Hernandez will have Duvet Day at the back of the Santa Barbara field early in the marathon race.
“We’ll bide our time and make one big run,” McCarthy said.
Queen Ofthe Temple, second in the Astra and Santa Ana, can play an important role as a stalker. Hernandez rode Queen Ofthe Temple in those races. Joe Bravo has the mount Sunday.
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