Coppa, Perfect Pic merit respect in Mizdirection

Highly regarded comebacker Coppa and Perfect Pic head a wide open lineup of 10 fillies and mares aged three and up in Saturday’s $75,000 Mizdirection Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.

Idle since well beaten over the course in the Unzip Me Stakes on Oct. 1, graded stakes winning Coppa has trained well for her return, while Miss Double d’Oro was a fast finishing third down the hill on March 10 and Perfect Pic hopes to return to her winning ways following a disappointing run in the Grade I Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt March 18.

COPPA: Trained by Phil D’Amato, she was a well fancied winner of her first three starts, all at6 ½ furlongs on dirt, culminating with a neck win in the Grade III Victory Ride Stakes July 9 at Belmont Park.Although she disappointed in the Unzip Me, look for this 4-year-old Florida-bred daughter of Yesbyjimminy to come back running on Saturday.Owned by Anthony Fanticola and Joseph Scardino, Coppa has three wins from five starts and has earnings of $154,545.

PERFECT PIC: An impressive gate to wire allowance winner going one mile on turf two starts back on Feb. 3, this 4-year-old Candy Ride filly bobbled at the start and was subsequently beaten 20 ¼ lengths in the Grade I Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on March 18.A first-out maiden winner going six furlongs on dirt Aug. 26 at Del Mar, she has proven ability sprinting and should appreciate the cutback in distance and return to turf.Trained by Jim Cassidy and owned by D P Racing, Perfect Pic is 7-3-1-1 with earnings of $126,290.

THE $75,000 MIZDIRECTION STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 10 Approximate post time 5 p.m. PT

1.   Watch This Cat—Corey Nakatani—126

2.   Desert Steel—Flavien Prat—124

3.   Coppa—Joe Talamo—126

4.   Do the Dance—Stewart Elliott—126

5.   Riri—Rafael Bejarano—122

6.   Coniah—Kent Desormeaux—122

7.   Perfect Pic—Santiago Gonzalez—122

8.   Smoove It—Tiago Pereira—126

9.   Paquita Coqueta—Gary Stevens—126

10. Swift Lady—Martin Garcia--126