Spiced Perfection Seeks Route Success in La Canada

After carrying her speed a mile in winning the Dec. 7 Go for Wand Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack, Spiced Perfection gets a further test of stamina Jan. 11 when she faces grade 3 winners Queen Bee to You and Horologist in the 1 1/16-mile La Canada Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.

A sprinter for much of her career, millionaire Spiced Perfection has been at her best in one-turn races, which was even the case in the Go for Wand, which began from the long Aqueduct backstretch chute. But the $200,000 La Canada, in addition to being longer, is also around two turns, making it a true route.

"We want to see how she will do going two turns," trainer Peter Miller said. "It could open up a whole new realm for her if it works, and if not, we can always go back to one-turn races."

A 5-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger  out of the Pleasantly Perfect mare Perfect Feat, Spiced Perfection is not entirely new to the two-turn game. She has tried it twice, though neither start resulted in a victory. Bred in California by Premier Thoroughbreds, Spiced Perfection ran second in both the one-mile Soviet Problem Stakes and 1 1/16-mile Melair Stakes against state-bred rivals in the middle part of her career before cutting back to sprints and flourishing.

She won the La Brea Stakes (G1) to cap her 3-year-old season in 2018 and then, after a private sale, won three of six starts at 4 for owners Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable, and Peter Deutsch, capturing Keeneland's seven-furlong Madison Stakes (G1) and the six-furlong Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G2) besides the Go For Wand.

Unsold when bidding halted at $1.35 million as part of the ELiTE consignment at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale after a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), she went back into training with Miller.

Joel Rosario will ride Spiced Perfection, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, who figures to face more early pressure in the La Canada compared with the paceless Go for Ward, when she was able to waltz the first half-mile in :49.09.

Video: Go for Wand H. (G3)

With earnings of $538,770, Queen Bee to You is the second-richest of the eight older fillies and mares entered, trailing Spiced Perfection's $1,214,405 bankroll. Queen Bee to You made $293,703 in 2019, winning four of 11 races. Among those were three stakes victories from six starts for Andrew Lerner, who took over her training from Mike Pender last summer. 

"One thing we've been working on in the morning is just to kind of get her to relax, getting her to track a little bit," Lerner said. "If she can be a little bit more tactical, that's going to help her. She's always kind of been one way, just kind of headstrong. So in the morning we've been putting horses in front of her, trying to get her to relax a little bit."

That showed to an extent when she won by tracking the leaders in the Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar, and even more so when she captured the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Los Alamitos Race Course when charging to a clear victory from eight lengths behind a swift pace. Ruben Fuentes will ride the 3-1 morning-line second choice.

Video: Bayakoa S. (G3)

The Bayakoa was the first graded win for Queen Bee to You and Lerner, who began training in April 2017. A 6-year-old Old Topper mare bred in California by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Queen Bee to You is owned by Adam Vali and a stable that races under the name of An Equal Amount of Blueberries.

The field's only other graded stakes winner is Horologist, who won the Monmouth Oaks (G3) last summer before finishing third in the Cotillion Stakes (G1) and ninth in the Lexus Raven Run Stakes (G2). She makes her first start in California and should appreciate the return to a route, with four of her five victories at a mile or longer.

Entries: La Canada S. (G3)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, January 11, 2020, Race 8

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:07 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Der Lu (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Bob Baffert	4/1
2	2Zusha (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	120	Gary Mandella	15/1
3	3Queen Bee to You (CA)	Ruben Fuentes	122	Andrew Lerner	3/1
4	4Message (KY)	Mike E. Smith	120	Bob Baffert	4/1
5	5Kaydetre (KY)	Brice Blanc	120	David A. Randall	30/1
6	6Horologist (NJ)	Joe Bravo	122	Richard Baltas	4/1
7	7Spiced Perfection (CA)	Joel Rosario	122	Peter Miller	5/2
8	8Starr of Quality (CA)	Geovanni Franco	120	William Spawr	15/1