Bal a Bali Vying for U.S. Score in American

Bal a Bali will look to carry his impressive success in Brazil into his first U.S. start, the $100,000 American Stakes (gr. IIIT) May 9 at Santa Anita Park.



The 5-year-old horse by Put It Back is owned by Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farms, trained by Richard Mandella, and has 11 wins from 12 starts at Gávea—including four group I events, a group II, and two group IIIs at the Rio de Janeiro track.



Bred in Brazil by Haras Santa Maria de Araras, the dark brown horse will break from the outside in the eight-horse field with jockey Flavien Prat and figures to face a challenge with a group of four graded-stakes winners entered in the mile turf test.



The horse with the most back class is another South American horse, 6-year-old Winning Prize, who was bred in Argentina and also raced there before venturing stateside in 2013. He won both the Arcadia (gr. IIT) and Frank E. Kilroe Mile (gr. IT) in 2014, but hasn't finished better than fifth in a graded stakes since and was second to Talco in the April 4 Thunder Road Stakes at Santa Anita.



Talco is also entered in the American, and lacks a graded-stakes victory, but is on a two-race win streak and retains jockey Victor Espinoza, who will guide the 4-year-old colt from post 5.



Other graded-stakes winners include Enterprising, who won last year's La Jolla Handicap (gr. IIIT), but was 10th in the Thunder Road; Gabriel Charles, the winner of the 2013 Del Mar Derby (gr. IIT) who didn't run in 2014 and was second in his 2015 allowance debut at Santa Anita April 16; and Home Run Kitten, who has placed in his last four graded-stakes tries and last won the Eddie D Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Santa Anita in September.



Three-time allowance/optional claiming  winner War Academy and stakes-placed Little Jerry complete the field.