SSM F/M Turf Sprint ($150.000 Purse)
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward Foaled in CA
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
January 15, 2022

This Saturday, there are several opportunities for CA-breds to show off their talents at SA, and one of those races will be the SSM F/M Turf Sprint. The name of the race gives away the conditions for the race pretty well, and it will run for the ninth time. It will be the first time in three years that the distance is six and a half furlongs, but that is the traditional length of the race. In 2021, a very well known horse took home the trophy as La Terrifiant made an appearance here in what was her second start for Smokey Stover after a large private sale. We don’t have any horses of that stature here, and I don’t even think the highest earner in the field, Sweetness, would have a problem with that statement. Let’s meet her, and the other six going to the gate for the race!

#1- Art Of Laughter (Rampage Stable, ridden by J Rosario)- Prior to her last race, Art Of Laughter was on a great streak of hitting the board, doing so in nine consecutive races. There were a few ungraded stakes in the mix, but none of those resulted in her finishing in the top spot. It’s hard to get a feel for what is her best career race, perhaps an allowance at CD in May, so she is certainly looking for her signature win. Hopefully, the Zareta is an aberration, and she can get back to getting great results.

#2- Calming Angie (Arindel, ridden by J R Velazquez)- This filly began her career with Arindel, but in August, the trainer would lose her in a $40.000 claimer. In Early November, Arindel had a chance to get her back, and would do so, re-claiming her, and for a $28.000 tag. She’s won four of sixteen, and has some graded experience from last Spring. Calming Angie has been best in overnights for her career. Last ran on Christmas, and maybe she had too much eggnog. Obviously, the trainer feels that result should be thrown out as quickly as wrapping paper if she is in this race after two weeks.

#3- Win For Red (Bkm Racing, ridden by D Van Dyke)- At press time, the trainer has only run in one career race, but we can see that they have high aspirations for their time here. They claimed Win For Red on the third of this month, from Spankys Barn, and give it a quick turnaround. Seems like something a returning player would do more than a new player, but you never know. The five year old mare has plenty of stake experience and has won five times for her career. The key for her is dealing with the short turnaround.

#4- Trouble Free (London Racing, ridden by K Frey)- Picked up by the trainer in the September auction, for $22.000 from Mb Stables. Prior to that, she had raced seven times and scored two wins and was coming out of a $40.000 claimer at SAR. London Racing didn’t just do what Mb did, though, and moved her to the grass. In her first two turf starts, she’s picked up one victory, coming up north at GG. She continues to work well, and will make her stake debut here.

#5- Delorean (Wolf Ridge Stables, ridden by K J Desormeaux)- Here’s another one that changed trainer hands recently, as Wolf Ridge Stables was able to pick up this mare in a $20.000 claimer in October. She won that race, and at the time she had a layoff of over six months. She made her debut for her new trainer in December, and did not have any trouble with the yielding turf, getting her second win and third in four starts. We can’t do back in time and wonder what might have been if she raced more last year, but she may be one to watch in 2022.

#6- Sweetness (High Voltage, ridden by A Cedillo)- No, she is not La Terrifiant, but there is no one in this field that carries that same resume. Over her 26-race career, Sweetness has won six times and accumulated over $720.000 in earnings. Ever since sheattived with High Voltage in late 2019, she has been racing in the graded ranks in nearly every start, including races like Diana, Rodeo Drive, and Matriarch, all Grade 1’s. She didn’t win anyone of them, but did run fourth in the Matriarch in her last start, one position better than La Terrifiant ran in the race! If this race was at least a mile, she’d be in the morning line. Now, how is she at this distance? Went wire to wire at it in October, right here in allowance, so I’m not worried.

#7- Calamity Jean (Angelos Stable, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- This filly has been a mainstay at sprinting on the grass, and she has been able to pick up results, hitting the board in each of her last nine starts. Four of them are wins. Early in that stretch, she ran in some smaller claimers, but she has gradually moved up and comes off a win in the $90.000 CC Distaff Dash, earning a 95 SRF in the process. Her race times are very consistent, and the addition of lasix looks to have given her just a little more valuable speed. She’s definitely a factor in here.

Prediction: 6-7-1-5

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded