Mirth Returns to Winning Ways in Robert J. Frankel
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Mirth gets the bob in the Robert J. Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita Park
A drop in class may have been just what grade 1 winner Mirth needed, but her rivals didn't hand her the win Dec. 28 in the $101,053 Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) at Sanita Anita Park.
The 4-year-old Colonel John filly returned to the races Saturday for the first time since a sixth in the Nov. 2 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), and took the lead after racing fifth early under Mike Smith in the 1 1/8-mile Robert J. Frankel. But fellow Phil D'Amato trainee Tiny Tina was looming under Javier Castellano after bobbling at the break, and the two hooked up for a fierce battle in deep stretch.
"That was awesome," Smith said. "(Tiny Tina) got in front of me, but (Mirth) dug back in."
Right behind in third was Excellent Sunset, three-quarters of a length behind Tiny Tina, after racing in traffic.
Longshot Harmless showed the way through an opening quarter in :23.95 and a half in :48.77, and carried on through three-quarters in 1:12.31 under pressure from Ms Peintour and Streak of Luck before she began to fade.
"There was a little more pace than I expected but that was fine because that helped me," Smith said. "If it had been just one horse going out there on the lead, then I probably would have had to go early to press him. But this way, I just got to sit and wait and move when I wanted."
D'Amato expected to see Mirth more forwardly placed, as she won the Sept. 28 Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1T) gate to wire, but it all worked out when the filly got the Frankel win by a nose. She paid $4.80 as the favorite, timed in 1:48.32 on turf rated good.
"It may have been Mike Smith's plan (to sit far back), but I thought we would be sitting second maybe, not that far back (second to last early on)," D'Amato said. "But Mike is a Hall of Famer; he figured it out."
The trainer expressed interest in stretching Mirth back out to distances like the 1 1/4 miles of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the Rodeo Drive.
"Today she showed a good dimension against good horses so I think at the end of the day she wants to go further than a mile and eighth," he said. "This was a good stepping stone today."
Bred in Pennsylvania by Barlar out of the French Deputy mare Di's Delight, Mirth improved her record to 6-4-2 from 18 starts, with career earnings of $395,563 for current owner Little Red Feather Racing. Her dam produced an Alliance colt April 26, and was bred back to the same stallion for 2020.