Santa Anita: Midnight Memories leads field of 6 into La Cañada

Lightly raced but a winner of three graded stakes in her last six starts, Bob Baffert-trained 5-year-old Midnight Memories leads Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 La Cañada Stakes at Santa Anita, where six older fillies and mares will contest 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Off at even money in the Bayakoa (G3) going the same distance at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15, Midnight Memories under a brilliant ride from Juan Hernández found a seam two from the rail turning for home. Although Desert Dawn got the jump on her and appeared in command a furlong out, Midnight Memories shifted outside, found her best stride and went on to a solid, one-length victory.

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With Desert Dawn back in the La Cañada lineup, it’ll be up to Hernández to work out any tactical concerns as Midnight Memories, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Mastery, seeks her sixth win from nine overall starts.

Owned by her breeders Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Midnight Memories is out of the Midnight Lute mare Tiz Midnight. She is 3-for-5 at Santa Anita and is unbeaten in two starts at 1 1/16 miles.

Desert Dawn, a hard-knocking, Arizona-bred mare trained by Phil D’Amato, will be ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat and rates a solid chance to turn the tables on the top choice.

Ridden by Héctor Berrios in the Bayakoa at Los Alamitos, Desert Dawn stalked the early leaders while a close third to the far turn, appeared to make the lead while in hand and four deep but was no match for the winner late.

Easily the leading money earner in the field with $896,525, Desert Dawn is winless in her last 11 starts since taking the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) in April 2022. She has kept top company, competing in five Grade 1 stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff two starts back on Nov. 4, a race in which she finished fifth, beaten by only 1 1/4 lengths.

In addition to the Dec. 15 Bayakoa, Desert Dawn also was second to Midnight Memories by only three-quarters of a length eight starts back in the Torrey Pines (G3) at Del Mar in September 2022.

Bred in Arizona by her owner H and E Ranch, Desert Dawn is a 5-year-old mare by Cupid out of the Honour and Glory mare Ashley’s Glory. With the Santa Anita Oaks her only stakes victory, Desert Dawn has been second in five graded stakes, two of them Grade 1s, and her overall race record is 18: 2-5-5.