As Time Goes By, Moonlight d'Oro meet again in the La Cañada

In search of her third consecutive win in what will be her first stakes assignment, John Sadler’s Park Avenue rates a big look in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 La Cañada Stakes as six older fillies and mares go a mile and one sixteenth.

Fresh off a game victory in the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Los Alamitos, Bob Baffert’s As Time Goes By, the leading money earner in the field, looms as the probable post time favorite.

A disappointing third in the Bayakoa Dec. 5, Richard Mandella’s Moonlight d’Oro will try to regain the form that saw her win the Las Virgenes Stakes (G3) here three starts back on Feb. 6.

Owned by Hronis Racing LLC, Park Avenue pressed the pace and went on to an impressive five length maiden win going one mile two starts back on Oct. 29 and she followed that up with another five-length score going a flat mile in a first condition allowance Dec. 12 at Los Alamitos when ridden for the first time by Juan Hernandez, who sticks with her on Saturday.

A $450,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase in 2019, Park Avenue is a 4-year-old filly by Quality Road out of the Indian Charlie mare Remarkable. With an overall mark of 6-2-2-1, she has earnings of $104,700.

The likely post time favorite, multiple graded stakes winning As Time Goes By enters the La Cañada fresh off an impressive 1 ¼ length win as the even money favorite in the Bayakoa going 1 1/16 miles.  A winner of two Grade 2 stakes here earlier this year, the Santa Maria on May 22 and the Santa Margarita on April 24, As Time Goes By has three wins and as many seconds from six Santa Anita starts.

Trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, this 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah out of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady is 12: 5-3-1 with earnings of $535,600. She will be ridden back by Flavien Prat.

Second two starts back after stumbling at the break of an ungraded one mile stakes at Del Mar Nov. 3, Moonlight d’Oro fetched $620,000 out of the same Keeneland sale Park Avenue graduated from.  With her Las Virgenes victory, she’s 6: 2-2-2 overall with earnings of $195,790. She will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith.