Paradise Woods gets class break, trying turf in Osunitas

Two-time Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods will break from the inside post position and face 11 rivals in Friday’s featured Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar.

The Osunitas will give Paradise Woods a break from facing standout distaff runners like Unique Bella and Abel Tasman and will also be her first try on grass. The Osunitas is a 1 1/16-mile test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

“She’s doing fine and we’re looking to see how she does on the grass, how she handles it,” Mandella said Wednesday morning.

A sufficient effort in the Osunitas could lead to a start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon, also at  1 1/16 miles on the turf, on Saturday, August 4.

Owned by Pam and Marty Wygod and Herman Sarkowsky, trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, the 4-year-old daughter of Union Rags has three wins in 10 lifetime starts with earnings of $773,545.

Two of the wins came last year in the Grade I Santa Anita Oaks and the Zenyatta in September. She finished third in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff here last November.

The Osunitas field from the rail: Paradise Woods (Flavien Prat, 7-2), Melissa Jane (Brice Blanc, 20-1), Amboseli (Victor Espinoza, 12-1), Pantsonfire (Kent Desormeaux, 9-2), Psyco Sister (William Antongeorgi III, 30-1), Lynne’s Legacy (Rafael Bejarano, 12-1), Compelled (Drayden Van Dyke,4-1), Fizzy Friday (Geovanni Franco, 8-1), Achira (Gary Stevens, 20-1), Evo Campo (Heriberto Figueroa, 20-1), Midnight Crossing (Corey Nakatani, 8-1) and Fahan Mura (Edwin Maldonado, 5-1). Also Eligible: Vexatious (Rafael Bejarano, 20-1) and Barleysugar (Tyler Baze, 10-1).