Warren's Veneda Steps Up in Santa Margarita

Warren's Veneda will look to keep trending upward with a win in the $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes (gr. I) March 14 at Santa Anita Park.



Coming off her first graded score in the Feb. 14 Santa Maria Stakes (gr. II), the Benjamin Warren-owned 5-year-old daughter of Affirmative will try to extend her stakes win streak to three with her first grade I try in the 1 1/8-mile test over Santa Anita's dirt course.



Under the guidance of jockey Tyler Baze for the sixth straight race, the Craig Lewis trainee will break from the outside in a seven-horse field of older fillies and mares, and will take on many of the same rivals she has beaten in her last two wins. All entrants will carry 118 pounds.

BALAN: Improving Warren's Veneda Wins Santa Maria

"Every race is a separate entity. It's all a different occasion and a new race," Lewis said. "You always want to ride the upswings. It's the downswings you worry about. She's taken on some good fillies and she's beaten some good fillies. You have to take that all into account."



Closest in the Santa Maria—2 3/4 lengths behind California-bred Warren's Veneda's closing victory--is return contender Uzziel, who was second at 52-1 last time out and draws post 6 with first-time rider Kent Desormeaux, just inside Warren's Veneda. The Santa Maria's third-place finisher Thegirlinthatsong—who was the slight 9-5 favorite in that race—will also return, but will switch from jockey Rafael Bejarano to Mike Smith.



All three stalked the early pace in the Santa Maria and the speed figures to be set by a newcomer in the Santa Margarita, along with a familiar foe.



Perpetual shipper Cassatt, Fox Hill Farms' 4-year-old filly by Tapit  , will likely be the one to catch after three consecutive gate-to-wire stakes victories, all at different tracks. Trained by Larry Jones, the Kentucky-bred last won the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 24, after claiming the Tiffany Lass Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Dec. 21 and the Zia Park Oaks Nov. 26.

Jockey Kerwin Clark will be in the irons for the eighth straight race, which have all been at different tracks, including a victory in the Aug. 9 Monmouth Oaks (gr. III). Cassatt boasts a bullet in her final work at Fair Grounds March 9, when she covered five furlongs in :59 1/5, and also tops the field in earnings ($603,033).

 

Another mare getting a return shot at Warren's Veneda is Bob Baffert-trained Tiz Midnight, who scratched out of the Santa Maria. Owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman,  the Midnight Lute   mare finished sixth behind Warren's Veneda in the Paseana Stakes Jan. 11, but also beat the same rival by a head in the Bayakoa Stakes (gr. II) Dec. 6 at Los Alamitos Race Course. Martin Garcia will replace regular rider Victor Espinoza—who will be riding American Pharoah for Baffert in the Rebel Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park the same day—on the 5-year-old runner.



Bobby Flay's Pennsylvania-bred Dame Dorothy figures to be another contender, making her first West Coast start coming off a win in the Florida Sunshine Millions Distaff Stakes Jan. 17 at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the filly by Bernardini   will carry Bejarano from post 3, and also carries some back class clout with a win in the Turnback the Alarm Handicap (gr. III) three races prior. Her only loss in six starts came in the Comely Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack, where she finished third to Snowbell as the 2-1 second choice.



Legacy, a fourth-place finisher in both the Santa Maria and Paseana, draws the inside post with Joe Talamo and completes the field.