ARCADIA, Calif. – The stakes contraction this season at Santa Anita has created a handicapping dilemma that affects the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies on a Sunday card that begins with a $45,806 carryover in the pick six.
Among the 11 stakes that Santa Anita either canceled or put on hiatus was the Providencia for 3-year-old turf fillies run annually in April. The 1 1/8-mile race provided an early test of stamina and offered clues to who might handle the same distance in the Honeymoon.
At the very least, the Providencia provided a foundation for Honeymoon starters. Since it was moved to Santa Anita in 2014, eight of 11 Honeymoon winners came out of the Providencia.
But the answer to the Honeymoon distance question Sunday – who can stay nine furlongs? – is not available. The Providencia is gone, and all six fillies entered in the Honeymoon will be racing the longest distance of their careers, including front-running favorite Jungle Peace.
“The biggest question is her going two turns,” trainer Phil D’Amato acknowledged. “From a PPs perspective, it should suit her speed. I think she’ll be on the lead.”
There is no doubt about pace. Jungle Peace, 3 for 3 in the U.S. setting or pressing the pace in sprints, figures to shake loose under jockey Umberto Rispoli. Her main rival is three-time route stakes runner-up As Catch Can. Others in the field include improving allowance filly Firenze Flavor, consistent California-bred Miso Phansy, Atia, and Schilflied.
Jungle Peace arrived from Ireland late last year as an unheralded maiden. Three wins later, she ranks among the top 3-year-old turf fillies in California. She won the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes on the hillside turf course last out.
“She came out of that last race like it was a workout, and followed it up with a really impressive breeze,” D’Amato said.
Rispoli worked Jungle Peace on May 11 over the Santa Anita training track, breaking off behind two stablemates and blowing them away before galloping out super.
Although none of the 11 editions of the Honeymoon at Santa Anita have been won by the pacesetter, Jungle Peace’s lone-speed advantage and big work last Sunday make her the choice. The result of the Honeymoon will determine Jungle Peace’s summer campaign.
“We want to see what our options are going into Del Mar,” D’Amato said. The next unrestricted turf-route stakes for California 3-year-old fillies is the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes on July 19 at Del Mar.
As Catch Can is the main threat to Jungle Peace. Jonathan Thomas trains As Catch Can, runner-up last out on Tapeta in the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park. Kazushi Kimura rides As Catch Can. Will Then, the top 3-year-old filly trained by Thomas, is targeting the San Clemente.
Miso Phansy and Firenze Flavor enter the Honeymoon off allowance wins. Miso Phansy won a California-bred turf sprint; Firenze Flavor upset a turf mile.
◗ Sunday's card begins with a carryover of $45,806 in the pick six after the bet went unsolved Saturday. Sunday's sequence begins with race 5, one race after the Honeymoon.
◗ The most likely winner of a 3-year-old filly race Sunday runs in the first race. Last-out maiden winner Kikuride appears to be a standout in the California-bred allowance turf mile for trainer Craig Lewis and jockey Juan Hernandez.
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