Zenyatta Stakes Belongs to Shirreffs, Paradise Woods
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Paradise Woods wins the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita Park
The Sept. 29 Zenyatta Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park belonged to John Shirreffs, the trainer of the great mare for which the race is named, when Paradise Woods outran early leader Secret Spice to win the $200,351 contest, a prep for the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
Like Zenyatta, the champion mare who won three consecutive runnings from 2008-10 when it was called the Lady's Secret Stakes, Paradise Woods has won multiple editions of the race, having taken it in 2017 when trained by Richard Mandella. Shirreffs began training her in late 2018.
Paradise Woods utilized a slightly different style than in 2017 when she led throughout. This time she settled in second early, as favored Secret Spice spurted away and established splits of :23.14, :46.83, and 1:11.30. The result remained the same, with Paradise Woods proving best in the stretch, pulling clear by 1 3/4 lengths over Secret Spice and completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.31 on a fast track. She paid $9.60.
The importance of winning a race named after Zenyatta was not lost on Shirreffs and his supporters.
"My wife was almost in tears coming down here," he said of his spouse, Dottie, as he walked toward the Santa Anita winner's circle.
The win carried a further benefit—an automatic expense-paid berth in the Distaff at Santa Anita Nov. 2 as a designed Breeders' Cup Challenge race qualifier. Paradise Woods ran third behind Forever Unbridled and Abel Tasman in the 2017 Distaff at Del Mar.
Sunday's victory was the second of the year from six starts for Paradise Woods, a 5-year-old mare owned by Steven Sarkowsky's HS Stable and Pam and Marty Wygod, whom Shirreffs credited for not retiring the mare after a winless 4-year-old campaign. A four-time stakes winner, she has won five of 17 races and $1,123,890.
"Marty is at home and watching, and he's overjoyed. He's the one that had the faith in her to keep her in training," he said.
A Kentucky-bred daughter of Union Rags out of the Forest Wildcat mare Wild Forest, Paradise Woods was bred by the late Herman Sarkowsky. She is a half sister to five other winners, including Forest Chatter, who took the California Flag Handicap at Santa Anita in 2015.
The Zenyatta further illustrated the ascension of winning jockey Abel Cedillo, who notched his third graded stakes victory of the weekend at Santa Anita after winning the John Henry Turf Championship Stakes (G2T) aboard Cleopatra's Strike and the Awesome Again Stakes (G1) on longshot Mongolian Groom Sept. 28. As in those races, he proved a proper judge of pace and was able to get Paradise Woods to break without incident, something she did not do smoothly in a couple of defeats in this year's Santa Maria Stakes (G2) and Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1).
"I made her stand perfect, and when she broke, I tried to use her a little bit, not too much," he said. "And she did everything perfect for me."
Secret Spice, the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) winner and 4-5 favorite, gave an honest account in finishing second but yielded somewhat in the race's final stages as she had in this year's La Troienne Stakes Presented by Inside Access from Chase (G1) and Clement Hirsch—both at the same 1 1/16-mile distance. She outlasted third-place Ollie's Candy by a neck, leaving La Force, Mongolian Humor, and Kaydetre to complete the six-horse field.