Sircat Sally Stays Undefeated With Providencia Victory

Joe Turner's hombred Sircat Sally extended her undefeated streak to five when she easily coasted to a 2 1/4-length win in the $150,000 Providencia Stakes (G3T) April 8 at Santa Anita Park.

Jockey Mike Smith never asked the odds-on favorite in the 1 1/8-mile test over the firm turf, where she recorded her fourth consecutive stakes victory, and first graded stakes win, for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. 

""She is really, really well-balanced. You can tell she goes over the grass almost like a deer—she just skips over the top of it," Smith said. "There's just no wasted action and she's got such a quick acceleration. She's just extremely impressive.

"I would say this was her best race so far. There was a filly that was really fast in there that got in front of her and was trying to get out and in doing so I had to move a little early to make sure that I didn't get carried away. Today showed me that she's ready to take that next big step into open company." 

The Surf Cat filly took the lead going around the first turn and never looked back, setting fractions through six furlongs in :24.10, :49.06, and 1:14.66, as Princess Roi and Emphatically followed in second and third. 

As the field began to bunch up in the far turn, Smith let his filly run but never went to the whip, as the rest of the field chased. Sircat Sally hit the wire in 1:48.77. You Missed It closed from fourth and nosed out Emphatically for second. Princess Roi, Tiburtina, and War Moccasin completed the order of finish. 

Beau Recall was a late scratch by the stewards after unseating jockey Joe Talamo in the post parade and running off.

Sircat Sally returned $2.60, $2.20, and $2.10 across the board. 

"I'm very grateful to have a filly like her," Hollendorfer said. "She can do just about anything—she has speed and she can run long. You can't ask any more than that from any horse. We thought we'd be on the lead. I was wondering what (Emphatically) would do, but they didn't go with us. Flavien (Prat) sat back off the pace, and then he didn't close any ground."

Out of the winning In Excess mare Sister Sally, also a Turner homebred, the filly entered off of a 1 1/4-length score in the March 11 China Doll Stakes. One race prior, she scored by 2 1/4 in the California Cup Oaks Jan. 28. She closed out her juvenile season when she bested a field of five fillies by 12 lengths in the Soviet Problem Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course. She now has earnings of $348,860.