Wilshire Stakes (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
April 30, 2023

On Sunday at SA, we will have the 17th running of the Wilshire Stakes, a Grade 3 event on the turf for older females. The race first appeared on the schedule at HOL in 2006 and has been run every year other than 2016. It was in 2014 that the race was moved to SA, and the purse level has been consistent at $100.000 since its inception. A field of nine will head to the starting gate, and it looks like we should have an entertaining and competitive race. Last year, the field was smaller, as only five took part, with Charlotte de Shark getting the win for Aarons Hosses. She is still active but has not been seen in a race since September. Let’s take a look at those looking to be the next addition to the winners list!

#1- Shes One Of A Kind (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by L Dettori)- This Combastic mare had a very successful career for Maxmillion Farm before being picked up by Mo Mentum in private sales last fall for $275.000. As of now, that has not paid off on the track, as Shes One Of A Kind has only one win in six starts, which was an optional claimer. The others were stakes, including the Grade 2 Royal Heroine in her last start, and she has not been productive. Considering entry fees, this mare has work to do in order to start paying dividends.

#2- Catawba (Sccj Stables, ridden by R A Vazquez)- A bit of a hard horse to get a read on right now. She has not been bad, with only one finish outside of the top four in her last seven starts and has been no more than length back in most of them. However, she doesn’t really have any impressive wins as of late, either. Took an allowance at DMR in December, which is certainly not easy, but she simply has the look of a horse that you probably would want to include within your picks, but not put on top.

#3- Midnight Liquor (Winning Link Stables, ridden by D Van Dyke)- This one doesn’t race a lot anymore, with just seven starts in the last calendar year. Her last victory came back in August at SAR in the $135.000 De La Rose, but two months later, she could not step up to the Grade 1 First Lady. Moving on to this year, she started off well with a runner up in the SSM Fillies and Mares Turf Sprint. Shorter distances in something that she has done much more often though she has some excellent mile works.

#4- Ginger Lucy (The Sidley Stud, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Comes into the race with two wins in her last three starts, which includes the $60.000 Glendale Stakes at TUP last November. You have to go back further in her career to find bigger races, and she was even a BC runner back in 2021. Perhaps now, she is getting some momentum going in her favor once again to return to that level. Has not finished outside the top four since June.

#5- Coconut Milk (Wood Duck Stables, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- The most surprising thing about this one is that it is her 2023 debut. She had finished off 2022 well, including a win in the QE II Challenge Cup at KEE last October. On shorter rest, she did not do well in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf, but that can be forgiven. After the BC, all seemed well with her when she scored a win in the Grade 1 Matriarch in December. Since then, she has not raced, and you have to wonder a little why that was the case. If she is at her Matriarch form, then she is the one to beat in here. If not, then it’s probably the one right next to her.

#6- Omnibus (High Voltage, ridden by U Rispoli)- She has been a mainstay at running a mile on the turf, and it has been successful for her as she has picked up some form of the purse in every start since the beginning of 2022. There are several graded stakes mixed in with that, including her last start, where she earned a 100 SRF in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes. Omnibus ran third there but was only beaten by a length. That 100 number is the highest such SRF of any horse in the field over their last six starts. Expect another strong performance here.

#7- Bad Party King (Night Rider Stables, ridden by E Maldonado)- Most of this mare’s career has been in claimers, but as she has gotten older, she only gotten better. With that, she has moved up into ungraded stakes and eventually picked up a win in one of them in mid-March. It was the $60.000 Queen of the Green Stakes at TUP, so not something that’s going to intimidate rivals, but she is on a two-race win streak and working well coming into this. Typically, she looks to get on the lead early.

#8- The Nation (Arindel, ridden by A Cedillo)- The filly by Punch Line has five wins in 22 starts, and comes to the Wilshire off an optional claiming win at GP at the start of the month. Her last stake appearance came back in November last year with a runner up at the $350.000 Fall Harvest at KEE. Despite that, she was dropped back into optional claimers, where even though the finishes appear consistent, she was soundly beaten by the winner in a couple of them and that may be why she hasn’t been entered in a stake since then until now.

#9- Genghis Rose (Ajm Stables, ridden by G Franco)- Claimed back in July by the trainer for just $12.500 and has turned into quite an acquisition. She wasn’t an immediate success story for Ajm Stables, but an allowance win at TAM led to her being entered in the $100.000 Tropical Park Oaks at GP the day after Christmas. She’d run second there, proving that she was able to race for higher purses. Won the Molly P at TUP in Feburary, and comes here off a third-place effort in the Turf Distaff at TAM. This will be her first graded attempt.

Prediction: 6-5-2-8

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES