Fun to Dream Gets First Graded Win in La Brea

Among trainer Bob Baffert's four entrants in the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes (G1), he had the most personally invested in Fun to Dream , a filly he and his wife Jill co-bred and race with Connie Pageler.

The daughter of Juddmonte Farms' late sire Arrogate, who Baffert also trained, showed plenty of ability against a deep field of graded stakes quality campaigners. The California-bred came into the first grade 1 stakes run on Santa Anita Park's opening day card with four wins from five starts.

Fun to Dream put her will to win on clear display again at the top of the stretch in the seven-furlong La Brea where she took command and held off a late rally from Awake at Midnyte  to win her first graded stakes by three-quarters of a length. Trainer John Sadler's 31-1 longshot Kirstenbosch  finished third.

Bettors made Fun to Dream the second choice at 5-2 behind 2-1 favorite Midnight Memories , a Baffert-trained daughter of Mastery   who came into the La Brea off consecutive graded victories in the Torrey Pines Stakes (G3) and Zenyatta Stakes (G2). Midnight Memories, a homebred for longtime partners Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman, and Karl Watson, finished fourth.

Fun to Dream found steady success as a stalker in her previous races and jockey Juan Hernandez, who was  aboard for all those earlier races, comfortably deployed the same strategy in the La Brea. They sat a snug third behind early leaders Ain't Easy  and Ganadora , who traded the lead with one another through opening fractions of :22.05 and :44.80. As the field rounded out of the turn, Hernandez steered Fun to Dream four paths off the rail and took the lead from Ain't Easy. At the same time, jockey Mario Gutierrez unleashed Awake at Midnyte, but her rally wasn't enough. Also flying at the end was Keith Abrahams' Kirstenbosch, who in the early going was the trailer by up to six lengths behind the field and ended about three lengths behind Awake at Midnight.

The final time was 1:21.99.

"All the fillies, they were doing so well, and I was hoping that one of them would get there and she just got the perfect trip, outside. Juan just sat there, and you could tell he was loving it turning for home," said Baffert. "I'm sitting next to my wife Jill, and she can't believe what she's seeing. You breed these horses, hoping for this moment. It looks like she's just getting better and better. She doesn't know she's a Cal-bred."

Hernandez said he had a lot of confidence because Fun to Dream has shown so much improvement.

"This horse is getting really, really good. She's shown up in her last couple of starts," he said. "Today, she was traveling very smoothly on the back side, and she broke sharp. Then after that, I felt like I had a ton of control. Turning for home I asked her to switch leads and pick it up, and she did the rest."

The win was Baffert's ninth win in the La Brea. He is the winningest trainer in the race's history going back to 1976.

Fun to Dream is out of the Maria's Mon winner Lutess, who also is the dam of multiple stakes winner Heck Yeah  (by Acclamation  ), who was bred by the late Michael Pageler and initially raced by Pageler and Baffert.

Video: La Brea S. (G1)