Wilshire a soft spot for Rashmi as stablemates stay away

ARCADIA, Calif. – Behind the scenes at the Santa Anita stable of trainer Jonathan Thomas, an internal conflict unfolds. This is not a bad thing.

“I’m in the good or unfortunate position, however you look at it, we have a small barn, but a lot of horses are fighting for similar spots,” Thomas said.

He was referring to a trio of graded stakes-winning turf mares that he wants to keep separated – Mrs. Astor, Rashmi, and Tirupati.

Mrs. Astor finished third in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes on March 15. Rashmi returns Saturday in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes. Tirupati will sprint April 4 in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes.

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Plans are fluid for Mrs. Astor, a 6-year-old mare with six stakes wins. Thomas said Mrs. Astor could run May 3 in the Santa Barbara Stakes. Another option under discussion is to breed Mrs. Astor this spring and race her into fall while she is in foal. Everything is on the table for Mrs. Astor, who has won 8 of 23.

As for Rashmi and Tirupati, their 2026 campaigns depend on their comebacks. Neither has started since last spring. Both 5-year-old mares were nominated to the Wilshire on Saturday, but only Rashmi will start in the turf mile. Tirupati, who won the Wilshire last year, will sprint on the hill next weekend in the Monrovia.

“I wanted to split them up, because they have very similar styles, and they would interfere with each other,” Thomas said. Tirupati “is a little bit quicker, so we’re going to run her in the Monrovia as a prep for the Royal Heroine.”

The one-mile, Grade 3 Royal Heroine is April 25.

Rashmi, despite a one-year layoff, is the 3-5 program favorite in the Wilshire, race 3. Winner of the Megahertz Stakes last spring, Rashmi faces only four rivals – stakes winner Antifona, allowance-caliber Miss Artois and Hannah Buckle, and claiming filly Walk’n the Beach.

Thomas said Rashmi has “been training great” for her first start since last March. “She just had a long year, and we gave her time off. She’s put in some really solid works. We’re hoping she runs well enough to think about the Gamely.”

The Grade 1 Gamely is May 25.

Owned and bred by George Strawbridge’s Augustin Stables, Rashmi has won four races and $174,736 from nine starts. Kazushi Kimura is her rider, and Rashmi figures for a forwardly placed trip from the inside post.

Antifona is stretching out in the Wilshire after finishing third in the six-furlong Wishing Well Stakes. Vladimir Cerin trains Antifona for owners Holly and David Wilson. Miss Artois, surprisingly listed as the second choice at 3-1, moves up in class from an entry-level allowance win.

Hannah Buckle, fourth in the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel Stakes, will rally late. Walk’n the Beach was claimed by Thomas for $10,000 last out from a runner-up finish. Walk’n the Beach was supplemented to the Wilshire, making it a field of five.

Favorites have won the Wilshire four of the last eight years.

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