There’s Zenyatta’s Grade 1 Winner

For those of you who support Blame for Horse of the Year, and have used the Zenyatta did not win a race over a grade 1 winner in 2010 argument as a key statistic, you might want to think about retooling your debate tactics. Today’s La Brea Stakes on opening day at Santa Anita proved to be a coming out party for a sophomore filly named Switch. You remember Switch, she was the filly who forced Zenyatta to muster up everything she had to run her down in the final few strides of October’s Lady’s Secret Stakes. It was the third stakes victory for the daughter of Quiet American, but in the La Brea she added her name to the list of grade 1 winners of 2010 in most impressive stlye.

Switch, who had won the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks this Summer over Blind Luck, skimmed the paint on the turn and accelerated away from the full field of talented fillies. On the wire she was four lengths clear of runner-up Malibu Pier. The victory was her fourth in eleven lifetime starts, as she covered the seven furlongs in a snappy 1:20.33 over a brand new dirt track that was playing lightning fast all afternoon. The authoritative score by Switch was the third La Brea score in the past four years for trainer John Sadler, following wins by Dearest Trickski and last year with Evita Argentina. It also was the first of three consecutive graded stakes wins on the day for Sadler, who missed his huge afternoon because of a gimpy knee. Sadler scored with Sidney’s Candy and Twirling Candy in the two races immediately after Switch, but that will be the subject of another blog. This one is about Switch.

Coming off an excellent second to Zenyatta, and then a solid second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, Switch has now announced herself as one of the top females in the nation. She is a consistent filly who can handle any surface, should be able to handle a stretch out in distance just fine, and appears to be only getting better with more racing. My opening to this piece was slightly tongue-in-cheek, but looking back at that thrilling stretch run in the Lady’s Secret, I guess we can now call it a key race. Switch has come back with two excellent races, is now a grade 1 winner, and we all know how Zenyatta performed in her next and final race.