Blind Luck Faces Seven Rivals in El Encino

Blind Luck, expected to be named champion 3-year-old filly at the Eclipse Awards Monday evening, kicks off her 2011 campaign in the $150,000 El Encino Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 16 at Santa Anita.

A three-time grade I winner in 2010, Blind Luck is to face seven other fillies who just turned 4 in the 1 1/16-mile dirt track event. The El Encino, which also attracted grade I winner Champagne d'Oro, is the eighth race on the program with a 4:07 p.m. PST expected start.

Blind Luck won the first four starts of her career on dirt for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, including  grade I victories in the Kentucy Oaks and Alabama, but carries a two-race losing streak into the El Encino. She ran second as the 3-2 choice in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I) Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.

The late-running daughter of Pollard's Vision   was unable to overcome a slow pace in the 1 1/8-mile test that day and wound up beaten by 1 3/4 lengths by Unrivaled Belle. Blind Luck finished second in the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes (gr. II) at Parx Racing at Philadelphia Park a month before the Breeders' Cup.