ARCADIA, Calif. – After they make two left turns Sunday at Santa Anita, undefeated Cavalieri and her highly accomplished stablemate Richi will go different directions this fall at Del Mar.
The Breeders’ Cup is just five weeks away, and the significance of the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita is clear, even though the 1 1/16-mile race drew only five entrants and does not include division leader Seismic Beauty.
The Zenyatta does include two of the three Grade 1/Group 1 female route winners currently trained by Bob Baffert. Cavalieri is 4 for 4 and headed to the BC Distaff pending Sunday, while Richi is the “now” starter. She finished third last out in a highly rated Grade 1 route and will shorten up for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.
The one missing from the Zenyatta is best of the Baffert bunch. Seismic Beauty wired the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch on Aug. 2 at Del Mar, earning a 110 Beyer Speed Figure while finishing five lengths in front of Richi.
“Seismic Beauty’s going straight to the Breeders’ Cup [Distaff],” Baffert confirmed this week. “She’s doing really well.”
In addition to favorites Cavalieri and Richi, the $200,000 Zenyatta includes Sugar Fish, the 2024 winner who should improve off her fifth-place comeback. Others in the Zenyatta are Baffert-trained longshot Howin and La Kika, a Group 1 winner in Peru making her U.S. debut.
The Zenyatta is likely to be won by Cavalieri or Richi, who were one-two in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile in March at Santa Anita. Richi has run twice since, winning the Grade 2 Santa Maria and finishing third in the Grade 1 Hirsch. Cavalieri, however, is racing for the first time in more than six months.
“I gave her a freshening. I want to have her ready for the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said. “This will set her up for the Breeders’ Cup.”
Cavalieri’s four wins have all come at two turns. Her Sept. 21 work in company with Grade 1 winner Gaming, who was entered in the Grade 1 Goodwood on Saturday, suggests Cavalieri will run well Sunday. She defeated Richi their only meeting, but circumstances are different in the Zenyatta, since Cavalieri has not raced since March. Juan Hernandez rides.
Richi has a current-condition advantage, having finished third two months ago in the Hirsch. A Group 1 winner in Chile, Richi has made six starts in North America, five at Santa Anita. Those include wins in the Grade 3 Las Flores, a sprint, and the Grade 2 Santa Maria, a route.
For Richi, the Zenyatta is a means to an end.
“I’ll run her here, then I’ll back her up to the seven-eighths [in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint],” Baffert said.
Antonio Fresu rides Richi, who has won 8 of 15.
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Sugar Fish, trained by Jeff Mullins, will try to improve off her fifth-place comeback. She won the Zenyatta a year ago and finished fifth in the BC Distaff and third in the seven-furlong, Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita before she was given a break.
Expectations were low for her summer comeback. Sugar Fish is less effective at Del Mar than Santa Anita, and she lost the Tranquility Lake by more than 15 lengths.
“We put a line through it,” Mullins said. “She proved the fact [she does not like Del Mar], but she needed a race to be ready for this race.”
Sugar Fish is a different filly at Santa Anita, where she scored all four wins.
“She’s always loved Santa Anita, and we just hope she’s come back to be the same horse she was when she went out for a break,” Mullins said. “This race is going to let us know.”
Regular rider Tyler Baze will be on Sugar Fish, who is removing blinkers. She has won 4 of 11 overall, including the Zenyatta and Grade 2 Summertime Oaks.
Howin is the third Baffert entrant, supplemented for $4,000. The only 3-year-old in the Zenyatta field, graded stakes-placed Howin has won 2 of 6 and her highest Beyer is 89. Kazushi Kimura rides Howin.
La Kika is an import from Peru making her U.S. debut for trainer Doug O’Neill. A Group 1 winner who is 6 of 11 overall, La Kika is up against it. Two examples of Group 1 Peru winners who ran in the U.S. are Tomcito in 2007 and Almudena in 2012. Neither got close in seven combined U.S. starts.
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