Win Machine Vasilika Draws Inside for Royal Heroine

Vasilika will look for her third graded stakes win in as many starts this season when the 5-year-old daughter of Skipshot  breaks from the inside in the $200,000 Royal Heroine Stakes (G2T) April 6 on the Santa Anita Park turf.

Campaigned by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and All Schlaich Stables, Gatto Racing, and George Todaro, Vasilika boasts victories in this season's Buena Vista Stakes (G2T) and Megahertz Stakes (G3T), both on the Santa Anita turf, where she has nine wins and a runner-up finish from 10 career starts. The fast start follows a 2018 campaign in which Vasilika won nine of 11 starts and secured her first top-level victory in the Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1T) at 1 1/4 miles in late September.

"I don't know if there's anything this horse can't do. If there is, we haven't found it yet," Hollendorfer said after the Buena Vista win. "Vasilika is certainly one of the barn favorites and really seems to come through for us every time. Even the couple of times she hasn't won, she's still tried so hard. We're blessed to have her."

Saturday's race, which has attracted a field of seven older fillies and mares, will be contested at one mile—marking the fifth consecutive time Vasilika will race at that distance. Familiar rival Ms Bad Behavior will start in post 2 after finishing second in the Megahertz and third in the Buena Vista for trainer Richard Baltas.

Raven's Lady, a group 2 winner in Germany, is scheduled to make her North American debut in the Royal Heroine for trainer James Cassidy. Raven's Lady will stretch out to a mile after six straight races at six furlongs in Europe.

Later in the day, some top 3-year-old turf fillies will try the $150,000 Providencia Stakes (G3T) at 1 1/8 miles. Lady Prancealot was supplemented to the race for $3,000 after winning a one-mile optional-claiming allowance race Feb. 1 on the Santa Anita turf.

In that season-opening effort, Lady Prancealot rallied from eighth to post a one-length victory over Truffalino, a Calumet Farm daughter of English Channel  who will make her stakes debut in the Providencia. Last year, Lady Prancealot placed second in turf stakes at Del Mar and Santa Anita ahead of an off-the-board finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Churchill Downs.

Lady Prancealot, an Irish-bred daughter of Sir Prancealot who has raced 10 times, is trained by Baltas. Jockey Joel Rosario was aboard in her previous two starts and returns Saturday.

Entries: Royal Heroine S. (G2T)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, April 06, 2019, Race 5

• Grade IIT
• 1m
• Turf
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 2:06 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Vasilika (KY)	Flavien Prat	124	Jerry Hollendorfer	3/5
2	2Ms Bad Behavior (ON)	Mike E. Smith	120	Richard Baltas	4/1
3	3Meal Ticket (FL)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Matthew Chew	8/1
4	4Cordiality (CA)	Joseph Talamo	120	Tim Yakteen	20/1
5	5Raven's Lady (GB)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	James M. Cassidy	7/2
6	6Space Talk (GB)	Rafael Bejarano	120	Anna Meah	15/1
7	7Smoovie (CA)	Martin Garcia	120	Doug F. O'Neill	30/1

Entries: Providencia S. (G3T)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, April 06, 2019, Race 9

• Grade IIIT
• 1 1/8m
• Turf
• $150,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:50 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Apache Princess (CA)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	J. Keith Desormeaux	6/1
2	2Lady Prancealot (IRE)	Joel Rosario	120	Richard Baltas	7/2
3	3Truffalino (KY)	Joseph Talamo	120	Richard E. Mandella	10/1
4	4Lakerball (CA)	Rafael Bejarano	120	Doug F. O'Neill	10/1
5	5Ladymidtown (KY)	Martin Garcia	120	Doug F. O'Neill	20/1
6	6Colonial Creed (KY)	Geovanni Franco	120	Richard Baltas	3/1
7	7Maxim Rate (KY)	Flavien Prat	120	Simon Callaghan	4/1
8	8Hostess (GB)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Simon Callaghan	12/1
9	9Miss Flawless (FR)	Tiago Josue Pereira	120	Peter Miller	6/1
10	10Killarney Lass (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	120	Frank Lucarelli	20/1