Causeforcommotion Dominates in Santa Barbara Stakes
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Causeforcommotion wins the Santa Barbara Stakes at Santa Anita Park by nine lengths
After finishing just a half-length behind Queen Blossom in last year's renewal of the $100,000 Santa Barbara Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park, Causeforcommotion returned to the downhill turf course May 11 looking to score.
Settling in second for a textbook stalking trip, the 5-year-old daughter of Americain bided her time until the field reached the mile mark and pounced, barreling past her competition to win by a decisive nine lengths.
Animosity broke sharply to set the pace on the rail, leading through fractions of :24.86, :48.01, and 1:12.51 for six furlongs. Causeforcommotion and jockey Geovanni Franco kept close tabs on the leader to her outside, followed by Kodiak West in third and Guiliana in fourth.
Quickening as the field made their way toward the mile point in 1:37.35, Causeforcommotion dug in to get on even terms with Animosity, who began to drift to the back of the field. Four lengths ahead with only a furlong to run, Causeforcommotion never slowed and widened her winning margin unchallenged.
Lynne's Legacy cut through from the back of the pack to get up for second. Guiliana took third ahead of Animosity, who moved up in the final strides to land fourth. Kodiak West finished last.
Final time for the race was 2:26.91.
The Santa Barbara marked the first graded win for Causeforcommotion, who is trained by J. Eric Kuljac. Her only prior stakes score came June 3 in the Possibly Perfect Stakes at Santa Anita. Raced exclusively in California, she finished third in her 2019 debut, an April 14 optional-claiming allowance race at Santa Anita.
Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Causeforcommotion is the third foal born to the unraced Giant's Causeway mare Causey. Owned by E. Dunham, Kruljac, Jim A. Reed, J. Sondereker, S. Yip, and D. Yip, Causeforcommotion improved her record to 4-5-3 from 16 starts, with earnings of $263,910.