Ben's Duchess and Prize Exhibit headline field for Santa Monica
Female sprinters take center stage on Saturday in Arcadia, California when nine probable runners are set to break from the gate in the 59th running of the Grade II Santa Monica Stakes. L.A. Woman Stakes winner Ben’s Duchess and multiple graded stakes winner Prize Exhibit headline the seven-furlong event for fillies and mares four years old and upward. While the graded winners are certainly in with a significant chance, there are a few others that could provide handicappers with a shot at getting a price home in the eighth race on a solid nice race card that commences at 12:30 PM local time.
Doubledown Stables’ Ben’s Duchess is likely to take a lot of money at the pari-mutuel windows on Saturday given her affinity for the racetrack and her dazzling performance last October in the L.A. Woman. The four-year old daughter of Munnings has won three of her six starts at “The Great Race Place” and has only finished out of the money once. That lone off the board effort was in her last when the John Sadler trainee mixed it up near the pace early and tired late to finish fourth in the Grade I La Brea on Opening Day. She looks to bounce back in the Santa Monica.
On paper there appears to be a dearth of early speed for a sprint of this caliber. This could work to Ben’s Duchess advantage if she is prominently placed early and gets first run at the pacesetters, but also could present a significant challenge if she breaks poorly like she has several times in the past. The seven-furlong distance is also a concern for those contemplating a wager on one of the probable favorites given her lack of success at seven-eighths of a mile. I can understand supporting her financially, but think she is worth taking a shot against at a short price. Regular rider Joe Talamo once again takes the call.
Prize Exhibit is the class of the Santa Monica field, but she has yet to run over the main track since arriving in the States in the fall of 2014. Wins this summer in the Grade III Senorita, as well as the Grade II San Clemente demonstrate her class and desire to hit the wire first and her victory down the hillside turf course in the Grade II Monrovia Stakes on January 3 illustrates that she can win at one turn. However, sprinting over this main track presents trainer James Cassidy and hot riding Santiago Gonzalez with a much different challenge. I believe that the Showcasing filly’s lack of early speed and inexperience over conventional dirt make her quite vulnerable and worth taking a shot against on Saturday.
I prefer a horse that will get “the jump” on them in the Santa Monica. Room for Me returns to Southern California for the first time since being claimed by trainer David Jacobson for just $12,500 last February and could find herself on a lone lead on Saturday. The six-year old daughter of Harlington rattled off six of eleven in 2015 earning $362,100 and has already shown an attraction to this racecourse with three wins and a runner-up finish in four lifetime starts. Jacobson has yet to find the winners’ circle since sending a string of his barn to Southern California for the Santa Anita winter meeting, but his track record of winning races makes him due to break through at any moment. If Martin Garcia can break well and set moderate early fractions, this mare is good enough to hang on for her first career graded stakes victory.
Irish-bred Living the Life has done most of her damage over a synthetic surface, but has the back class to be competitive in the 2016 Santa Monica. The winner of 9 of 28 has earned $791,704 in her career, including back-to-back victories in the Grade II Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes. The six-year old mare is 0 for 2 at Santa Anita and is completely void of early speed, but did run second in her most recent start over conventional dirt in the Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos last July. Flavien Prat gets the “leg up” on Saturday for trainer Gary Mandella.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has won the last two versions of the Santa Monica with Scherzinger and Sam’s Sister and will look to make it three in a row with Tara’s Tango. The “Dorf” has had a cold start to 2016 at Santa Anita with just three wins thus far, but it is just a matter of time until the Hall of Famer heats up. Tara’s Tango has won just two races in her seven-race career, and has never won over this surface, but has shown the talent to compete at this level and could be sitting on a career effort second off the layoff.
Kiss at Midnight, Lost Bus, Kyriaki and Finest City will all need career best performances to be a factor on Saturday. Finest City and Lost Bus should be prominent early and given the right trips can hit the board at solid prices. If either of them press Room at Me on the front end, it will likely set things up for an off the pace runner. Kiss at Midnight and Kyriaki need a pace meltdown to be factors. They will be fortunate to pick up the pieces for a minor share. The Santa Monica makes up the third leg of the late fifty cent Pick 4 wager and is set to go to the post at 4:00 PM local time.