ARCADIA, Calif. - Sister Kate won her first stakes in Sunday’s $83,600 Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita, benefiting from a strategic decision by jockey Corey Nakatani not to engage eventual runner-up Candrea in a speed duel.
Approaching the first turn of the race over 1 1/16 miles, Nakatani kept Sister Kate behind Candrea, who set an early pace of 23.22 and 47.22 seconds. Sister Kate ($18.40) trailed by a length on the backstretch, engaged the leader on the turn, and won by three-quarters of a length, in 1:45.22.