Toinette, Keeper Ofthe Stars Meet in Wilshire Stakes

Toinette is perfect in four turf starts at Santa Anita Park, a record that includes victories in the Autumn Miss Stakes (G3T) and Goldikova Stakes (G2T), and Keeper Ofthe Stars is one of the hottest fillies in Southern California, racking up consecutive victories in the Buena Vista Stakes (G2T) and Gamely Stakes (G1T).

One streak has to end when the two standout turf runners meet in the $100,000 Wilshire Stakes (G3T) at the Arcadia, Calif., oval June 20. Though five others are entered in the one-mile grass race, the public is expected to wager like it is a two-horse affair. Toinette is the 8-5 morning-line favorite, followed closely by Keeper Ofthe Stars at 9-5.

Having kept a steady schedule this year, Keeper Ofthe Stars has a recency advantage over Toinette, who has not competed since a fourth-place finish in the Dec. 1 Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar. Keeper Ofthe Stars has raced four times since Toinette has been away.

Though she can't match the perfect record of Toinette at Santa Anita, Keeper Ofthe Stars is 3-1-0 in five starts on the local grass course. Besides the Buena Vista and Gamely, she also won the Autumn Miss Stakes last fall for owners Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

"She's been able to get clean trips and relax," trainer Jonathan Wong said of her recent success. "That's the main thing with her, keep her out of trouble and get her to settle. She's not a horse you can stop and go, stop and go—she's such a big filly."

Abel Cedillo, aboard for all three of Keeper Ofthe Stars' graded stakes victories at Santa Anita, will retain the mount on the 4-year-old gray daughter of Midnight Lute  whom Wong would prefer stalk the pace.

She carries 126 pounds, spotting her rivals between two and 10 pounds.

Although Toinette has been away from racing for more than 6 1/2 months, success following past layoffs suggests she could fire fresh. She is 4-for-5 in turf races following breaks of more than 45 days, only losing the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) when ninth over its 1 1/4-mile trip, a distance beyond her best.

Last summer at Del Mar, she won an allowance-level race after more than nine months away. She shows a lengthy work pattern for Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale, finalized by a trio of long six-furlong workouts. She narrowly tops the field in earnings with a bankroll of $506,720 for owners Lynne and Edward Hudson Jr. and Ken Baca.

"That's a really nice filly for Drysdale," Wong said of his filly's main rival. "She's a fresh horse coming off a layoff. She's going to be the horse to beat."

Flavien Prat, Toinette's jockey for most of her 11-race career, returns on the 5-year-old Scat Daddy mare, who carries 124 pounds.

She is one of two entries for Drysdale along with Simply Breathless. After being imported from Britain, Simply Breathless won her first two races in America last year, including the Wilshire. She has since lost seven consecutive races.

She ran second to Toinette in the Nov. 3 Goldikova over this course and distance in one of her best races amid her losing spell and then was sixth in the Matriarch, ninth in the Gamely, and seventh against males in the San Francisco Mile Stakes (G3T) at Golden Gate Fields.

Entries: Wilshire S. (G3T)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, June 20, 2020, Race 2

• Grade IIIT
• 1m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 1:02 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Red Lark (IRE)	Drayden Van Dyke	116	Patrick Gallagher	20/1
2	2Cordiality (CA)	UMBERTO RISPOLI	122	Tim Yakteen	8/1
3	3Gypsy Spirit (GB)	Mike E. Smith	122	Leonard Powell	8/1
4	4Querelle (KY)	Aaron T. Gryder	122	Peter Miller	6/1
5	5Keeper Ofthe Stars (KY)	Abel Cedillo	126	Jonathan Wong	9/5
6	6Toinette (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Neil D. Drysdale	8/5
7	7Simply Breathless (GB)	Ruben Fuentes	124	Neil D. Drysdale	6/1