Lady Ninja Outfights Selcourt to Win L.A. Woman
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Lady Ninja wins the L.A. Woman over Selcourt
Thirteen months after being claimed from a $32,000 claiming race at Del Mar, Lady Ninja is now a graded stakes winner.
Racing at Santa Anita Park Oct. 5 in the 100,000 L.A. Woman Stakes (G3), she picked up her first graded win by taking the 6 1/2-furlong dash for fillies and mares by a nose over frontrunning Selcourt.
Breaking from the inside post in the field of five, she stalked Selcourt as that mare raced uncontested on the lead with fast splits of :21.44 and 44.13. Angled out for the stretch by jockey Drayden Van Dyke, it took all she had to wear Selcourt down. She pulled alongside that rival in midstretch and inched past the determined runner-up in the closing sixteenth of a mile.
A 5-year-old daughter of Majesticperfection out of the Formal Gold Mare Dressed to Kill, Lady Ninja stopped the clock in 1:16.79.
"She gutted it out. She gutted it out two or three times," said winning trainer Richard Baltas. "She is very tough when she gets in those duels down the lane. She always wants to win."
Despite her prior days within the claiming ranks, in which she dropped to as low as $25,000 claiming late last year, the public paid her respect at the betting windows in the L.A. Woman. She was backed to 5-2 odds, relatively close in price to Selcourt and third-place finisher Anonymity, established mares that started at odds of 3-2 and 6-5, respectively.
The L.A. Woman was the fourth victory of the year for Lady Ninja, owned by a partnership of Harry Bederian, Harout Kamberian, Hagop Nakkashian, and her trainer. Other leading performances from her in 2019 included a $40,000 claiming race victory and two allowances scores before a third in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) at Del Mar Aug. 11 when a tardy start compromised her chances.
“She broke good today, compared to last time,” said Van Dyke.
Bred in Kentucky by Sugartown Stable, she was a $60,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2015 from the consignment of Brereton C. Jones by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, who raced her before she was claimed in September 2018.
Last year's Las Flores Stakes (G3) and Santa Monica (G2) winner Selcourt, making her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita March 30, was her usual high-performing self in the L.A. Woman, finishing 5 1/4 lengths in front of third-place Anonymity, the favorite. The latter was followed by Show It N Moe It and Streak of Luck in a field reduced by one after the scratch of Flor de La Mar.
Although not part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, L. A. Woman winners have a history of continuing onward to compete in the Filly and Mare Sprint. Last year's winner, Skye Diamonds, ran 10th in the Filly and Mare Sprint. A year before, 2017 L.A. Woman winner Unique Bella ran seventh as the favorite in that year's Filly and Mare Sprint.