The claimer-turned-stakes-winner story is a familiar one. It happens all over the country, every year, and the reason for the change of fortune for any horse is almost never a single, identifiable thing.
For a horse like India Mantuana, a $40,000 claim by trainer Ray Bell (no relation to Richard Bell, who owns the 5-year-old mare), the story is similar.
It wasn't that anything jumped out at Bell, who found the daughter of Wilburn intriguing because she was stakes-placed at Woodbine three trainers back, before she went under his care. In her first three starts for trainer Phil D'Amato in Southern California (after races in several regions of North America), she ran in tough second-level allowance races (in one she finished third to eventual claimer-turned-grade 1 winner Vasilika) but only qualified for the first-level optional-claiming allowance at Del Mar Aug. 22 because she was entered for a tag.
Like any claim worth its salt, it was a bit risky, but Bell took a shot. In her first start at the 1 3/8-mile distance, she sped to victory by 2 1/4 lengths, and she carried the red claiming tag back toward Bell's barn.
He entered her back in a second-level optional claimer Oct. 8 at Santa Anita Park at a mile on the grass and was a bit disappointed with her fourth-place finish, but jockey Tyler Baze gave him valuable feedback when he hopped off.
"Tyler came off and told me she was a little one-paced and that she might want longer," Bell said. "Any jockey that's had a significant amount of experience, like he does, is one you want to listen to."
Because long-distance turf races aren't exactly abundant on the circuit, Bell took another shot with a run in the 1 3/8-mile Red Carpet Handicap (G3T) at Del Mar, and she rewarded him with another frontrunning score at odds of 18-1. Now she'll look to parlay that success into the 1 1/2-mile Astra Stakes (G3T) Jan. 20 at Santa Anita.
BLOODHORSE STAFF: India Mantuana Speeds to Red Carpet Upset
"It's very exciting, particularly when the horse is a mare," Bell said of turning a claimer into a graded winner. "Winning a graded stakes adds a tremendous amount of value. And it was a long time between drinks of water for me."
The Red Carpet was the first graded stakes win for the 66-year-old trainer since Juniper Pass won the San Luis Rey Stakes (G2) and San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (G2T), also both marathon races, in 2011. And before that, he won the 1 1/2-mile Carleton F. Burke Handicap (G3T) with Habaneros in 2004.
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"The key to any horse going a distance of ground is their pedigree and their ability to get that trip, but a horse who wants to run a mile and a half and beyond also has to settle," Bell said. "That's the key to them, and I've had a decent amount of success getting horses to settle and finish well."
Among the nine other entrants in the Astra are others trying to make the claimer-turned-graded-winner transformation. Four have run for claiming tags, including recent claims Copper Fever and Lynne's Legacy. Both mares won their last starts at Golden Gate Fields. Copper Fever won a starter allowance Dec. 30, two starts after she was claimed for $25,000 for trainer Craig Dollase, and Lynne's Legacy, a $40,000 claim back by Doug O'Neill, took the Dec. 8 Miss America Stakes.
Morning-line favorite K P Pergoliscious, the last-out runner-up in the Dec. 29 American Oaks (G1T), and Trust Fund Kitty both raced for a tag in maiden races in 2018.
Rounding out the field is grade 2 winner Cheekaboo (who hasn't won since that score in the 2016 Honeymoon Stakes), multiple graded stakes-placed Amboseli, stakes winner Plein Air, graded stakes-placed Pantsonfire, and maiden winner Arctic Roll.
Santa Anita Park, Sunday, January 20, 2019, Race 8Entries: Astra S. (G3T)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Cheekaboo (CA)
Joel Rosario
118
Peter Eurton
10/1
2
2Lynne's Legacy (CA)
Alonso Quinonez
120
Doug F. O'Neill
6/1
3
3Arctic Roll (GB)
Ruben Fuentes
118
Andrew Lerner
20/1
4
4Amboseli (KY)
Kent J. Desormeaux
118
James M. Cassidy
6/1
5
5Plein Air (IRE)
Drayden Van Dyke
118
Bob Baffert
4/1
6
6Trust Fund Kitty (KY)
Brice Blanc
118
Val Brinkerhoff
30/1
7
7Copper Fever (KY)
Joseph Talamo
118
Craig Dollase
30/1
8
8K P Pergoliscious (IRE)
Mike E. Smith
118
Jeff Mullins
3/1
9
9India Mantuana (KY)
Tyler Baze
122
Thomas Ray Bell, II
7/2
10
10Pantsonfire (IRE)
Flavien Prat
118
Richard Baltas
6/1