La Brea: Midnight Memories leads Baffert's 4 entries
With four horses entered, Monday’s Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes would appear to run through the Bob Baffert stable. His Midnight Memories, fresh off a pair of graded-stakes wins, rates top billing in a very competitive field of eight sophomore fillies going seven furlongs on Santa Anita’s opening day 11-race card.
Owned and bred by longtime Baffert devotees Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Midnight Memories has been idle since galloping to a 3 1/4-length score going 1 1/16 miles in the Zenyatta Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita on Oct. 2.
A winner of the Torrey Pines Stakes (G2) going a flat mile at Del Mar two starts back, Midnight Memories will be ridden for the third time in a row by Ramon Vazquez as she seeks her first Grade 1 trophy.
A Kentucky-bred daughter of Mastery, Midnight Memories has tasted defeat just once in five starts, a troubled third place finish in a six-furlong allowance three starts back on July 28. Favored in four of her five races, she looms the pari-mutuel choice in the La Brea as well.
Owned by Baoma Corp, Baffert’s Ganadora, a $1 million Keeneland September yearling purchase, comes off an eight-length score going a flat mile in an ungraded stakes at Los Alamitos and will be ridden for the first time by John Velazquez.
A winner of her first two starts at 6 1/2 furlongs, Ganadora has won three of her four starts and will be trying Grade 1 competition for the first time.
Baffert also is solidly repped by his California-bred Fun to Dream, whom he bred in partnership with Connie Pageler, co-owner of the filly with Baffert’s wife, Jill.
By Arrogate, Fun to Dream comes off a much better-than-looked head victory going seven furlongs in the state-bred Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 13. In search of her third consecutive win, Fun to Dream has won four of her five starts, all in partnership with Juan Hernandez, who’s back aboard in the La Brea.
Idle since finishing second to Eclipse champ Ce Ce going 6 1/2 furlongs in the Chillingworth Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita on Oct. 2, Baffert’s Under the Stars, who took the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) in her only try at seven furlongs six starts on Jan. 8, will be reunited with Flavien Prat, who was aboard for the Santa Ynez score. Owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, the Kentucky-bred filly by Pioneerof the Nile is 9: 3-2-2 overall.
In what will be her first Southern California start, the speedy Hot Peppers, who ships in from Belmont Park for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, was a close second two starts back in the Test Stakes (G1) going seven panels on Aug. 6 at Saratoga, and she was most recently fourth as the 2-1 favorite in the Prioress (G2) as six furlongs on Sept. 2 at Saratoga.
By the Distorted Humor stallion Khozan, Hot Peppers, who was a Grade 3 winner sprinting three starts back, is 9: 5-2-0 overall and is owned by Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso.