Include Me Out Fresh for Santa Margarita

Short field, lone speed, streaking front-runner. Joe Talamo knows he has his work cut out if he expects to beat Ellafitz when he rides Include Me Out in Saturday’s Grade I Santa Margarita Stakes for older fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles. But that hasn’t shaken the 22-year-old rider’s confidence.

“She was only a length and three-quarters off the lead when they went 45 and four last time when she won the La Canada,” Talamo said of Include Me Out, who “powered away” to win that race by 4 ¼ lengths. “She can definitely lay close and she was pretty close on her own.”

Trained by Ron Ellis for the Jay Em Ess Stable, Include Me Out is a lightly raced 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Include with a strong stretch surge. She has three wins from seven starts.

“Obviously, Ellafitz is the one to beat and the one to catch because she’s got that speed and she keeps on going with it,” Talamo said. “But my filly’s doing real good right now and they’ve done a great job with her.

“She’s nice and fresh, too. She hasn’t run since the La Canada on Jan. 22 and they skipped the Santa Maria (on Feb. 18, won by Ellafitz for her third straight gate-to-wire stakes win) because Ron was pointing her for this race.

“Another thing in our favor is the fact that Ellafitz is going an extra sixteenth of a mile from her last three races. They were all a mile and a sixteenth. My filly finishes real well and she’s bred to run all day. She’ll be tough.”

The field for the Santa Margarita: Miss Mittagong, Mario Gutierrez, 6-1; Love Theway Youare, Joel Rosario, 15-1; Kayce Ace, Victor Espinoza, 15-1; Ellafitz, Martin Garcia, 6-5; Include Me Out, Joe Talamo, 9-5; and Awesomemundo, Mike Smith, 5-2.