Window Shopping shows she's at home on both turf and dirt
?q=100)
ARCADIA, Calif. - At the beginning of her career last November, Window Shopping finished a troubled sixth in a one-mile maiden race on turf at Del Mar.
That was the last time Window Shopping has started on the surface. In her first three starts this year, Window Shopping ran on dirt, including a win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
This summer, Window Shopping is scheduled to return to the Del Mar turf course for the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, a $300,000 race at 1 1/8 miles.
“I think she’ll like it,” trainer Richard Mandella said on Sunday.
The Del Mar Oaks is the richest race for 3-year-old fillies at the Del Mar summer meeting. The track’s richest race on dirt for the division is the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes, $150,000 at a mile on Sept. 2.
Mandella said Window Shopping will not race outside of California anytime soon.
“She’s a nervous filly and I’m hesitant to ship her,” Mandella said. "I don’t have any problems racing her on turf. Her first start she had nowhere to go and was trying to run.”
In her debut, Window Shopping raced in traffic and closed ground to lose by 4 1/2 lengths. Window Shopping won her debut in a maiden race at a mile on dirt by 16 1/2 lengths on March 17. The race was scheduled for turf, but was run on dirt because of wet conditions.
The decisive win left Mandella slightly perplexed.
“I didn’t know if it was her beating turf milers in the mud,” he said.
Window Shopping was third in her stakes debut in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on April 8, finishing seven lengths behind Faiza, a six-length winner.
In the Summertime Oaks, Window Shopping closed from fifth on the turn, rallying between rivals to take the lead in the final furlong under jockey Hector Berrios.
“It was a good ride,” Mandella said.
Window Shopping, an American Pharoah filly purchased for $700,000 as a yearling, races for Ramona and Perry Bass. Window Shopping has earned $208,700 in her career.
The pedigree suggests Window Shopping will handle turf. American Pharoah is the dam of the American Grade 1 turf winner Harvey Lil’s Goil and the French Group 1 turf winner Above the Curve.
Course record for Mucho Del Oro
Mucho Del Oro set a course record for 6 1/2 furlongs on the oval turf course on Saturday, winning a $50,000 claimer by 4 3/4 lengths in 1:13.70.
Mucho Del Oro was claimed for $50,000 in that race by trainer Doug O’Neill in partnership with Purple Rein Racing of Janie Buss. Buss’ family are the majority owners of the Los Angeles Lakers.
A 5-year-old gelding, Mucho Del Oro has won 8 of 15 starts, including the $100,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Handicap at Turf Paradise in March 2022.
Mucho Del Oro lowered the previous mark of 1:13.80 for 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf oval that was set by Hembree in January 2021.
Races at 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf oval are relatively new at Santa Anita.
A chute was added to the oval portion of the turf course in late 2020 to accommodate races at six and 6 1/2 furlongs. The field runs through the chute, briefly across the dirt track, and joins the backstretch of the turf course approximately 5 1/2 furlongs from the finish.
At the time, the track was using the hillside turf course only for the start of races at 1 1/4 miles or more. Sprints on the hillside turf course resumed in the fall of 2021 after a hiatus of more than two years. The track stopped running sprints on the hillside in March 2019 after a series of fatalities that drew worldwide attention.
Prat drops appeal
Flavien Prat, currently tied for fourth in the standings at the spring-summer meeting at Belmont Park, has dropped an appeal of a three-day suspension issued in April by Santa Anita stewards.
Prat was cited for causing interference aboard Conclude in the $101,500 John Shear Stakes for 3-year-olds on the hillside turf course. Conclude bumped with Marks Hip early in the turf sprint. The stewards conducted an inquiry, but did not change the order of finish, stating Marks Hip was not cost a better placing in the incident.
Prat was originally suspended April 29-30 and May 5, but appealed the decision. The penalty will now be served June 16-18.
Prat rode at Santa Anita until early April, when he moved to Kentucky for the Keeneland meeting and the first two weeks of the Churchill Downs meeting, and later to Belmont Park.
Conclude followed his fourth in the John Shear with a win in the Desert Code Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters on May 23.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.