The Distaff Handicap (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
AQU- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
April 4, 2026

At the Big A on Saturday, a field of nine older females will be taking part in the 21st running of the Distaff Handicap, which is a seven-furlong race on the main track. The $150.000 purse is a slight drop from the $175.000 of the last three years, but still within the range that has typically been offered for the race. Most horses in this field will carry 115 or 116 pounds, one will carry 118, and then we’ll have a real high weight at 124. Last year’s Distaff Handicap was won by Menacing Shadow, for La Canada Racehorses. It was part of a strong year that saw her pick up five victories in nine starts, and she is still active today. Here’s a look at the field this time around:

1- Chase The Money (Avenue Z, ridden by J Rosario)- Chase The Money ran in the Distaff Handicap last year but did not do much chasing, and earned no money by running seventh of eight. Things got better for her right after the race, regularly hitting the board in ungraded stakes or smaller graded ones. Only one was a win, though, the $100.000 Memorial Day Sprint at LS. Her last two have seen her struggles reappear, and she’ll hope some redemption here can change that.

2- Houseofidentity (Noblepark, ridden by E Esquivel)- It’s going to be difficult for Houseofidentity, as she will need to overcome carrying eight or nine pounds than half the field. If you’re the high weight, it means you have been doing something right, and she does have two graded wins in her last three starts. She began the year by winning the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at SA, then a month later, she captured the Grade 2 Lukas Stakes with a 101 SRF along the way. The question, of course, is not in her ability, but how she handles the significant weight disadvantage. She’s prone to an occasional dud, and that concerns me.

3- Sassy State (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- In ten starts, Sassy State has picked up three wins, and all of them have come in overnights. Her last victory came at TUP in December, so not something that is going to intimidate her opposition. She’s run for bigger purses in her last two, including the $65.000 Bold Ego at SUN, where’s been respectable though also did not hit the board.

4- Viking Cat (Bigchief Stables, ridden by P Husbands)- The seven-year-old mare enters the race having won two of her last three, both LA-bred stakes at the end of last year. She was particularly impressive in her victory at DED in the $100.000 Rosewater, where she earned a career- high SRF of 98. Off of that, she looked to step up in the Grade 3 Royal Delta six weeks ago, and put in a respectable performance, running fourth. Carries 116 pounds in this one.

5- Salamander (Winning Link Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- A lightly raced horse that will make just her sixth career start here. Her first four races per mostly run against NY-Breds, and she would show potential here. Then, she had a long layoff, from June of last year to February of this career, and that period also saw her be sold in the December auction for $30.110. Salamander would debut at CT for Winning Link Stables and won a seven-furlong allowance by a length. Been a while since she last worked in public, just barely making it for the game’s cutoff time for public works.

6- Sense Of Pride (Serenity Stables, ridden by J Montano)- When we last saw Sense Of Pride, it was at the end of February, where she was a non-factor in a SA starter allowance. About two weeks after that, she would be auctioned off for $12.010 to Serenity Stables and will make her debut for her new trainer here. This is not actually her stake debut, as you can dig back in her career to find a previous instance, but it’s been a while. She’s been inconsistent, so the biggest task Serenity has may be to find out how to make her consistent.

7- Dupixent (Night Rider Stables, ridden by K Carmouche)- Last fall, Dupixent ran fifth in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint, and was within a length from the victory. She’s run twice since then and comes here off a fourth-place effort in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic, where she was also within a length. However, Night Rider Stables wants to see more than that and posted yesterday evening that she will be headed to the shed if she doesn’t show she’s Grade 1 quality here. Is that a little tough, considering the Lukas wasn’t a bad race, or is it more the trainer is looking at the next stage of her career much more? Hopefully the fact that she carries 2-3 more pounds than everyone here but Houseofidentity will also a considering factor when the result is measured up.

8- Save Ferris (Martyparty, ridden by A Beschizza)- This will be the 25th career start for the Pinnacle West mare, and it is a career that has been spent mostly in overnights. From time to time, she has run in stakes, and one of her six wins is in such a race. However, you have to go back to the July 2024 Fleet Treat Stakes, for CA-Breds, to find it. Much more recently, after winning a SA optional claimer in January, the trainer was hoping for much more than what he got in the $125.000 Wintergreen, where she was flat from gate to wire.

9- Star Sapphire (John Henry, ridden by G W Corbett)- Picked up by the trainer last June for $75.000 in private sales, and has made four starts since that time. Outside of the Trillium, she’s hit the board in all of them despite not getting her first win with John Henry. This includes a much better race in the Wintergreen than Save Ferris had, when she came from way off the pace to get up for third and only miss by a length. That race saw very quick fractions, so it set up nicely for the closer to pick up the pieces when the pace collapsed. It’s how she likes to run, and everyone should be looking for her in the stretch.

Prediction: 4-7-9-1

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES