Staking action starts early on January 28th at Santa Anita . Park with $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds will start the second race at around 1:00 p.m. PT. Among the six fields set to compete at the one mile on the main track are Faiza and Pride of the Nile people in Starlet (G1) last month were only a head apart when they ran one or two in Racetrack Los Alamitos.
Faiza, who dominated with a 1-2 favorite under Flavien Prat for coach Bob Baffert, was partially aided in the win by a slow start from Pride of the Nile. Second longest hit across the board at 12-1 for coach Doug O’Neill, Pride of the Nile stumbled out of the gate at Juan Hernandez’s hands and found themselves in last place after the first quarter of a mile. first. The Nile pioneer managed to contend in the rear, and after gliding across the tracks on his second turn, looked ready to push through in the 1/16-mile Starlet. But it was in vain in the end as Faiza outlasted her opponents on the ropes.
Pride of the Nile will look to turn the tables on Saturday at Las Virgenes, which is set to pay points to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 5. Also included in the highly rated Las Virgenes justifiable for coach John Shirreffs; can not control , who finished third, defeated 5 1/2 lengths, in Starlet for Michael McCarthy; turf stake winner stage girl for O’Neill; and sweet trouble a girl who twice started out for Phil D’Amato.
Pride of the Nile has been active five times since Starlet, including a five-round drill on: 59.80 on January 13. Just before boarding a plane to Florida on Thursday, O’ Neill expressed optimism about his chances over the phone.
“She really did a great job,” he said. “It was a tough race, but we hope to have a similar effort to Los Alamitos.”
Pride of the Nile will again be driven by Hernandez in Las Virgenes while Faiza will have new racer Ramon Vazquez in the irons. He replaces Prat, who on Saturday will ride at Oaklawn Park where his mounts including Brad Cox trained corona at Southwest Stakes (G3), preparing for the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Las Virgenes serves as a stepping stone to the $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G2) on April 1 and awards Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 20-8-6 scale. -4-2.
Item: Las Virgenes S. (G3)
Santa Anita . ParkSaturday, January 28, 2023, Race 2
- Class III
- 1m
- dust
- 200,000 USD
- 3 year old sister
- 12:59pm (local)
This press release has been edited by BloodHorse Staff for content and style.
