Finest City Gives Kruljac Biggest Victory in Great Lady M.

Finest City gave trainer Ian Kruljac, 27, his biggest victory, upsetting heavily-favored Fantastic Style in the Grade II, $200,690 Great Lady M. Stakes Saturday at Los Alamitos.

A 4-year-old daughter of City Zip and the Lemon Drop Kid mare Be Envied, Finest City, an 8-1 shot in the field of seven fillies and mares, Finest City also was part of a huge day for Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.

The Spring meet’s leading rider, Desormeaux won with four of his five mounts Saturday, making him 10-for-20 entering the final five days of the season.

Reserved off the hot pace set by Thirteen Arrows – with 1-2 choice and defending Great Lady M. champion Fantastic Style and Lost Bus in close pursuit – while racing in the clear, Finest City collared the leaders nearing the wire, ultimately prevailing by 1 ¼ lengths.

The final time of 1:14:48 established a track record for 6 ½ furlongs, eclipsing the old mark of 1:14.60 set by Patriots Rule in the E.B. Johnston Stakes Sept. 5, 2014.

Owned by Seltzer Thoroughbreds, Finest City paid $19.60, $5.60 and $4. Her third victory in 10 starts pushed her earnings to $275,594.

“I want to thank (Seltzer Thoroughbreds), my father (trainer Eric Kruljac) and everyone at the barn for believing in me,’’ said Ian Kruljac. “We knew we had a very nice filly and we’ve just needed to give her some time.

“It paid off today. The post really helped her. She likes to run free and clear and she’s had some trips where she’s been stuck inside. I thought we could win today because she is all heart and I really didn’t think we had seen her best yet.

“All I told (Desormeaux) before the race was, ‘Good luck.’ You don’t really tell a Hall of Famer how to do their job.’’

Desormeaux, who had never ridden Finest City before Saturday, gained some confidence in the Florida bred after working her twice recently at Santa Anita.

“She was very good in those works,’’ he said. “I was elated the way she went to the post like a real professional, then went to school when she got to the gate.

“Even though she has a lot of speed, she was able to relax perfectly and it worked out great the way they were going up front.’’

Fantastic Style, who had a 1 ½ length lead with an eighth of a mile to run, paid $2.40 and $2.10 while finishing a head in front of Lost Bus, who returned $3 to show.

The loss for Fantastic Style, who is owned by Kaleem Shah and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, ended a three race win streak for the 4-year-old Harlan’s Holiday filly. She’s now 5-for-8 in her career, but has yet to finish worse than third.

Completing the order of finish were Minks Aprise, Dr. Fager’s Gal, Ben’s Duchess, the 5-1 second choice, and Thirteen Arrows.

Racing resumes Sunday at Los Alamitos. Post time is 2 p.m.