Mizdirection Faces Ten in Monrovia

Mizdirection, a versatile daughter of Mizzen Mast trained by Mike Puype, seeks her first win sprinting in Monday’s holiday feature, the Grade III, $100,000 Monrovia Stakes for older fillies and mares at about 6 ½ furlongs on turf.

Winner of the Sandy Blue Handicap at one mile on grass last August, Mizdirection was an eventful fourth, beaten less than a length, in the Grade II Raven Run on Keeneland’s Polytrack on Oct. 22, then won going six furlongs on Hollywood Park’s turf course on Dec. 4. Garrett Gomez has ridden the gray Kentucky-bred in her last five races.

“I’ve only had the opportunity to ride her twice sprinting,” said Gomez, who celebrates his 40th birthday on New Year’s Day. “Both times she ran really good. In the Raven Run I was in behind horses and I couldn’t get out, so she actually ran a really good race.

“Last time she just pretty much played with them (winning by nearly three lengths as the 1-5 favorite). We had been routing her, so we thought maybe 6 ½ would be a good direction for her. She’s very nice and has real tactical speed and you can kind of do what you need to with her when you’re sprinting.

“Going a route of ground, we try to get her to relax a bit, but for now we’re going back to what she’s pretty good at and that’s sprinting. We’ll see how she does and maybe later on try routing again.”

The field for the Monrovia: Mizdirection, Gomez; Givine, Joel Rosario; Up In Time, Martin Garcia; Wild Mia, David Flores; Remit, Corey Nakatani; Champagne d’Oro, Joe Talamo; Berg Bahn, Victor Espinoza; Fifth Amendment, Mike Smith; Separate Forest, Hector Berrios; Unzip Me, Rafael Bejarano; and Silver Rock, Edwin Maldonado-Alicea.