Santa Monica Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
January 21, 2017

Heavy rain did a number on our virtual SA race course on Saturday, causing the track to come up sloppy and leaving the Mb Stables victory parade in possible doubt.  Heading into the race, it really did seem like Mb Stables was saddling the two clear favorites in the race: Lea and Fleeting Affair.  However, the rain had the potential to make this a toss up.   In theory, anyway.  The rain may have just made Lea more of an appealing favorite when you looked again at the past performances and saw that she won the Grade 1 Test at still beautiful even when its muddy Saratoga Race Course.  Lea shrugged off the rain, and showed this crowd that she is one of the top fillies in the game.  The win gives her 8 in 17 starts, and over $1,100.000 in career earnings.  What will this year hold for?  She’s really becoming an intriguing one to be watching in 2017.  For now, we’ll celebrate her win here, which was the first for Mb Stables in the stake, and the same is true for her jockey, J Talamo. Congratulations to the winners!  The time of the win in the slop was 1:26.42. Let’s look at how it went down!

1st- 3- Lea (8/5)- The post time favorite, as well as our pick, got the job done for Mb Stables today.  As the pace setters jumped out to heir lead, Lea was content to tuck herself right on behind the wall of three that was stalking El Gran Regret.  This would put her almost four lengths back at a quarter mile.   In a very patient manner, J Talamo waited to see how things we set up in front of him, and he got a good answer for that as Crack Performance and Pluck Around looked to pass El Gran Regret to her outside. This allowed Lea to come thundering down into the lane that Crack Performance had been in, and then split that one and El Gran Regret on exit of the turn, and I must say she made this move look very easy.  At the top of the stretch, there was nothing they could do as she was in a much better stride.  The only potential problem was the lurking Silk Houses.  Early in the stretch, she started to open up, and that would be important, because Silk Houses probably was a little better in the stretch, but the advantage she would have on her would be too tough for her to surmount.  Lea would hold on to the victory, the eighth of her career!  That time again, 1:26.42.  Lea is a four year old filly by Quick Code (General Assembly) and out of Internet Speed (Swarley bloodline).  She was bred in New York by D J C Racing Stables as a second quarter two year old, and was sold to Mb Stables exactly six months to the day, in private sales, for $400.000.  Congratulations to the connections!

2nd- 6- Silk Houses (12/1)- The Alydar Stables entry had no interest in the early pace, and went right to the back of the field in the opening moments.    She would concede a gap of about six lengths to the leaders, but more important, a gap of three lengths to Lea.  As the field moved into the turn, Silk Houses has plenty of room to run while on the rail, and she would take advantage of that until she had to make way for the fading El Gran Regret.  Once clear of that one, she went back to the rail and made a hard charge for the race win.  Unfortunately for the trainer, she could not make up all the ground she surrendered to Lea early, but it was a valiant effort leading to a good second place finish.

3rd- 7- Fleeting Affair (3/1)- Taking on her stablemate, Lea, has become common lately for Fleeting Affair, but today Lea would get the better of her.   She began the race near the back of the field, ahead of only Silk Houses at a quarter mile.   Waited for the beginning of the turn to prepare her move, but got caught up in a tight crowd amongst the comers and the goers.   Traffic hurt her, and Crack Performance not necessarily going away lightly at first might not have helped.  Still, she was certainly third best on this day.

4th- 1- Crack Performance (8/1)- While along the rail, the entry from Rockitpad found herself in the middle of the field, to the inside of Pluck Around on the backstretch.  As the field moved into the turn, she looked for some room to split El Gran Regret and Pluck Around as her sights were set on taking the lead.  Took the lead for a moment, but could not keep up with those coming from off the pace.  However, unlike the other early runners, she at least had a little something in the stretch.

5th- 2- Pluck Around (40/1)- The longest shot on the board, from John Henry, got off to an average start overall, running between Crack Performance and Fight Song early on.  Continued to stalk El Gran Regret without putting too much pressure on her, and would react well to the move of Crack Performance in the turn.  Towards the exit of the turn, the two of them took over the lead temporarily, but their were new challengers emerging.  Pluck Around had no interest in any of that in the stretch and called it a day.

6th- 4- Fight Song (6/1)- The Sccj Stables entry got off to a good start in this race, stalking the pace setting El Gran Regret as the race moved down the backstretch.  Ran three wide with Crack Performance and Pluck Around early in the backstretch, but as those two began to push forward, Fight Song did not have the same response, and ultimately faded to the back.

7th- 5- El Gran Regret (9/2)- Started much better then she would finish for Night Mare Racing, shooting out to the lead, and showing the way at a 1/4 in :23.62. Even at a half, she was still in the lead as that went in :48.06.  At the top of the stretch, she decided she was done for the day.

Track: Sloppy
Time: :23³  :48   1:13²  1:26²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 6 Paid 44.20
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 6 – 7 Paid 90.70

Scratched: None

Winner picked by NS

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES