Ben's Duchess Tops Competitive Santa Monica Stakes Field

Ben's Duchess, pictured winning the L.A. Woman Stakes, looks best in Saturday's Santa Monica at Santa Anita Park. (Photo by Benoit Photo)
The field for the 59th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita Park is made up of nine fillies and mares, but three possess the bulk of the probability to walk away with the $120,000 winner's share of the purse.
Leading the trio is Ben's Duchess, who won the Grade 3 L.A. Woman Stakes over the track in October before a fourth of nine finish last month in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes. Another of the three is Room for Me, who ships in from New York for trainer David Jacobson. A repeat of her effort winning the Garland of Roses Stakes last month might be good enough to win the Santa Monica. The last of the top contenders is Living The Life, who won the Grade 2 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes last summer on an all-weather surface and who has a big chance to succeed if she can transfer that form to the main track.
Prize Exhibit won the Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes on turf 20 days ago but runs on dirt for the first time in her 21st career start. Kiss At Midnight ran well when second in two straight stakes races for California-breds in October and November but gets a stiff test for class, while Tara's Tango has run poorly in two straight, showing no semblance of the form that saw her finish second in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks in June. Kyriaki ventured to Louisiana to win the Treasure Chest Stakes at the distance of a mile in November but has never sprinted on dirt. Finest City and Lost Bus round out the field. 
Ben's Duchess earned a career best 108 Equibase Speed Figure this past summer at Del Mar when winning at the second allowance level. Two races later, on Oct. 4, she ran just as well when victorious in the L.A. Woman Stakes at Santa Anita. Rested nearly three months, Ben's Duchess ran in the La Brea Stakes against the likes of graded stakes winners Birdatthewire and Cavorting and wasn't disgraced at all when finishing fourth of nine after pressing the pace in the early stages. Jockey Joe Talamo has been aboard for her last three wins including two at Santa Anita and on the drop from Grade 1 to Grade 2 stakes Ben's Duchess appears to be the one to beat. 
Room for Me is tied for the most career wins in the field with nine, the most recent of which came last month in the Garland of Roses Stakes with a 102 speed figure. She didn't really regress when third a month later in the Interborough Stakes, earning a 103 figure and when winning the Videogenic Stakes in March Room for Me earned a field-high 114 figure. Interestingly, although trainer David Jacobson shipped a string of horses into California prior to the Santa Anita meeting, Room for Me didn't ship in until after working at Belmont Park on January 7, suggesting it was a relatively last minute decision to send her to this race. That is not a bad idea considering many of the entrants in the Santa Monica have either run in claiming races or are still eligible for allowance level races. Considering she was just three lengths behind top sprinter La Verdad twice in the last four months, Room for Me has a big shot here.
Living The Life is the other nine-time career winner in the field. Eight of the wins came on all-weather tracks including the Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes in September. Although winless in three races on conventional dirt, Living The Life finished second in the Great Lady M Stakes last July at Los Alamitos with a 104 figure effort that would be competitive with the other two main contenders if repeated. Additionally, with three excellent recent workouts at Santa Anita, Living The Life is sending all the right signals for a competitive effort.
The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase Speed Figures, is Finest City (104), Kiss at Midnight (97), Kyriaki  (99), Lost Bus (94), Prize Exhibit (106 on turf), Tara's Tango (106).
My selections:Ben's DuchessRoom for MeLiving The Life
$200,000 Santa Monica Stakes
Saturday, Race 8, Santa Anita Park, 7 p.m. ET
Seven furlongs, dirt, fillies and mares 4-years-old and older

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

Odds

1

Prize Exhibit

Santiago Gonzalez

Jim Cassidy

DP Racing

TBD

2

Ben's Duchess

Joe Talamo

John Sadler

Doubledown Stables

TBD

3

Kiss At Midnight

Gary Stevens

Richard Baltas

Marasa, Messineo or Robershaw, Et Al

TBD

4

Lost Bus

Fernando Hernandez Perez

Gary Sherlock

Terry C. Lovingier

TBD

5

Tara's Tango

Mike Smith

Jerry Hollendorfer

Stonestreet Stables

TBD

6

Room for Me

Martin Garcia

David Jacobson

David Jacobson

TBD

7

Living The Life

Flavien Prat

Gary Mandella

HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing

TBD

8

Kyriaki

Mario Gutierrez

Peter Eurton

Ciaglia Racing LLC or Savides

TBD

9

Finest City

Corey Nakatani

Ian Kruljac

Seltzer Thoroughbreds

TBD