Charmaine's Mia Outruns Jolie Olimpica in Las Cienegas

Trainer Phil D'Amato has transformed another addition to his stable into a graded stakes winner in California.

Agave Racing Stables's Charmaine's Mia became his latest Jan. 9 in the $99,000 Las Cienegas Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park in a course record-setting performance. Her victory followed the graded success of horses such as Count Again, Mirth, Fault, and Ransom the Moon  that shined in Southern California for the trainer after previously competing in other parts of North America.

Charmaine's Mia won a race with a rough opening 50 yards, during which Lighthouse contributed to a chain-reaction incident that led Oleksandra, the 5-2 second choice, to clip heels of another horse, Superstition, and unseat jockey Joel Rosario on Oleksandra. The latter ran loose at the back of the pack before caught after the race by an outrider, and Rosario walked off the track under his own power.

Rosario told Xbtv.com's Zoe Cadman after the race that he fell hard but hopes to be back riding Jan. 10. He missed a scheduled mount in the day's last race.

Lighthouse, third across the wire, was disqualified and placed fifth in a majority ruling by the track's three stewards.

Charmaine's Mia ($35.40) was not involved in the incident, well inside the horses that were a part of the lengthy stewards' inquiry that followed. After pressing the pace for an opening quarter-mile timed in :21.58, she took command with a half-mile in :43.80, and drew away for a 2 1/2-length victory over defending champion Jolie Olimpica, the even-money favorite who rallied from fifth.

"I knew she was going to show another gear at the top of the lane if I had any competition behind me," said winning rider Drayden Van Dyke. 

Lighthouse was another half-length behind the runner-up, followed by Superstition and Bohemian Bourbon. Those two were elevated to third and fourth, respectively, upon the disqualification of Lighthouse. Another entrant, Acting Out, was scratched.

A 5-year-old daughter of The Factor , Charmaine's Mia raced six furlongs on a firm course in 1:07.81, the fasted of nine races at the distance since Santa Anita began racing from its new backstretch turf chute in late-December.

Bred in Kentucky by Gunpowder Farms, the winner was a $4,000 yearling purchase by Cool Hill Farm from the consignment of Bert Welker and Clark Shepherd's Allied Bloodstock at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

She raced for owner/trainer Michael McDonald for the first 25 starts of her career, most of which came in Canada. She was second in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes at Woodbine as a 2-year-old. She has now compiled a 5-4-2 record from 26 races with earnings of $232,976.

"I've learned with some of these horses coming in from Woodbine, that because they've got a deeper turf up there, this is their first chance to run over a firm turf and sometimes, they just float over it and she did just that," said D'Amato.

Charmaine's Mia is the first stakes winner for her dam, the stakes-winning Bernstein mare Charming Vixen. The dam also has a minor winner in Boatloadofnerve (Magician) and an unraced 3-year-old in Korea.

Video: Las Cienegas S. (G3T)

This story has been updated to clarify the owner of Charmaine's Mia.