Defending champ Finest City among Great Lady M. nominations

Defending champion Finest City heads a list of 15 fillies and mares nominated to the $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M. Stakes.

A Grade II at 6 ½ furlongs, the Great Lady M. will be run for the fourth time Saturday, July 8, the third day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos.

The program will also include the $100,000-guaranteed Bertrando Stakes for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California. The one-mile race attracted nine nominees, including 2014 winner Soi Phet and Magic Mark, who scored an 11-1 surprise in the 2015 renewal.

Owned by Seltzer Thoroughbreds and trained by Ian Kruljac, Finest City posted an 8-1 upset over heavily-favored Fantastic Style in the 2016 Great Lady M., rallying from off the pace to win by 1 ¼ lengths.

Later in the year, the daughter of City Zip won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, earning her the Eclipse Award as the female sprint champion.

Out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Be Envied, Finest City has earned $1,232,394 while winning five of 18.

The nominees also include Skye Diamonds, who has won four of six since being claimed for $40,000 last Aug. 27 by trainer Bill Spawr.

Owned by a partnership that includes Bloom Racing and Tom Acker, the 4-year-old First Dude filly won the Dream of Summer Stakes earlier this year and was a strong second behind multiple graded stakes winner Vale Dori in the Grade III Adoration May 7 at Santa Anita.

A California bred out of the Johannesburg mare Exonerated, Skye Diamonds, who has won seven of 14, broke her maiden at Los Alamitos Dec. 5, 2015 when trained by Mike Machowsky.

The other nominees include a quartet – American Gal, Fact of Life, Pretty N Cool and Swift Lady – trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Avicii, Coniah, Constellation, winner of the Grade I La Brea last Dec. 26 for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Cuddle Alert, Dashin Ashen, Demigoddess, Perfect Pic, Shenandoah Queen and So Sweetitiz.

Trained by Leonard Powell for a partnership, Soi Phet is a three-time stakes winner at Los Alamitos. The 9-year-old Tizbud gelding, who has earned $802,056 while winning 12 of 51 starts, captured the 2016 E.B. Johnston Stakes and the 2014 Los Alamitos Mile after his score in the inaugural Bertrando July 3, 2014.

Owned by breeders John and Dorine Lanza and trained by Ron Ellis, Magic Mark hasn’t been worse than third in three races at Los Alamitos.

Sandwiched around his win in the Bertrando was a third-place finish in the American Flag in 2014 and a runner-up effort behind Soi Phet in last year’s Johnston.

The other Bertrando nominees are Avanti Bello, Edwards Going Left, Gold Rush Dancer, Got Even, Smokey Image and Taman Guard.

Opening day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival is Thursday, July 6. Entries for the Bertrando and Great Lady M. will be taken Wednesday, July 5.