Santa Barbara Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
SA- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
May 11, 2024
A small field of four will be taking part in the $100.000 Santa Barbara Stakes at SA, a race that runs for the 19th time, but lost its graded designation in 2023. It has also seen a gradual purse drop from the $200.000 that it debuted with back in 2005 when it was a Grade 2. The race is run at a mile and a half on the turf course and should still be a competitive field despite having fewer entries. Last year’s winner was Loihi, for Martyparty, and it seemed to be her last hurrah. She has since been retired and has produced for four foals. Her oldest, Pinnacle Volcano, is getting some decent results, too. Having said that, let’s meet our four runners:
1- Profound Ease (Mb Stables, ridden by R L Moore)- In six starts, Profound Ease has picked up three wins and has never failed to hit the board. Most are in overnights, but she did move up to the $150.000 Benson Memorial Stakes at FG last time out and ended up second. Usually, will be one to get out to the lead, but that may not be a given based on how she ran at PRX earlier in her career.
2- Era Of Nebraska (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by D Van Dyke)- This is also a horse that likes to get out on the lead early, but she was not able to make it last until the end of the race in her last two, where she settled for consecutive fourth place finishes. Those were each in ungraded races: the $100.000 Stall Memorial Stakes at FG and the $150.000 Sand Springs at GP. Two of her last three races have been on soft going and while she has handled it, she will be glad to run a dry course Saturday.
3- Catelyn (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by L Dettori)- It is not officially her stake debut, but it has been a while. Catelyn was claimed by Mo Mentum Farm for $19.000 almost exactly one year ago and has two wins in seven starts in her new silks. Her last race saw her go very long on the turf for the first time, in a starter allowance, and she handled it very well, placing third but had her photo taken with the winner.
4- Poetic Panther (Maletto, ridden by M E Smith)- A horse that knows how to get it done, finishing in the top three in fourteen of seventeen starts, and has never been lower than fourth. By default, that streak will continue, but you have to like a horse that is always in the mix whenever she is on the track. We also know that she can handle the distance, winning at a mile and a half six weeks ago at the Grade 3 Orchid at GP. No reason to think she can’t do that again.
#5- Woman Up- Scratched
Prediction: 4-1-3-2
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
