Competitive Field of 12 Entered in Monrovia

A competitive field of 12 fillies and mares is set to contest the Jan. 4, $200,000 Monrovia Stakes (gr. IIT) at 6 1/2 furlongs on Santa Anita Park's unique downhill turf course.

The Monrovia, in which all entrants carry 118 pounds, is the eighth race on a nine-race program. The Monrovia has an approximate post time of 4 p.m. PST.

The most accomplished entrant is Glen Hill Farm homebred Wishing Gate, a multiple graded- stakes winner trained by Tom Proctor who has earned $373,942 while winning four of 16 starts with four runner-up efforts. The 5-year-old Indian Charlie mare comes off a fifth-place finish in the restricted Kathryn Crosby Stakes at one mile on turf Nov. 7 at Del Mar.

With 15 consecutive turf routes on her resume, the mare will break from the 7 post under Gary Stevens and will sprint for only the second time in her career.

Proctor will also saddle consistent Biorhythm, who ran fourth and second in a pair of hillside stakes last year and won a classified allowance event down the hill two starts back on Oct. 3. Also owned by Glen Hill Farm, the 5-year-old Florida-bred by Malibu Moon   has two wins and a second from four starts down the hill. She is 12-4-1-2 overall with earnings of $184,700.

An impressive allowance winner her United States debut at one mile on turf Sept. 3, Gender Agenda comes off a fourth-place finish in the grade I, one-mile turf Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 30 and will be making her fifth stateside start for trainer Carla Gaines.

In her only try down the hillside, English-bred Gender Agenda rallied to be a sharp second, beaten a neck, in the Unzip Me Stakes three starts back Sept. 27. Owned by Keith Brackpool, Alon Ossip, and Tim Ritvo, 4-year-old Gender Agenda is 11-2-3-2 overall with earnings of $109,660.

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by Simon Callaghan, English-bred Judy In Disguise made just one start in 2014; it resulted in a sharp half-length win in a seven-furlong allowance race at Del Mar Nov. 28. A 5-year-old mare, Judy In Disguise was a minor stakes winner down the hillside  Feb. 16, 2013.

With Joe Talamo set for a return ride, Judy In Disguise has an overall mark of 16-5-3-3 with earnings of $214,204.

California-bred Velvet Mesquite makes her first start since running a close second as the 2-1 favorite in the 6 1/2-furlong Senator Ken Maddy Stakes Nov. 1, a race on the Breeders' Cup World Championships undercard that due to overnight rain was transferred from the hillside turf to the main track.

A 5-year-old mare by In Excess owned and bred by Harris Farms, Velvet Mesquite has won five of her six races on the downhill turf, including the California Distaff Handicap two starts back Oct. 11. She has earnings of $260,606 from an overall mark of 10-5-2-0.