Las Cienegas: D'Amato's Elm Drive is morning-line favorite

In a race that lacks a clear-cut standout, trainer Neil Drysdale’s French-bred Nadette cuts back in distance and appears to have a big look among a field of 11 older fillies and mares going about 6 1/2 furlongs down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course in Sunday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Las Cienegas.

A fast-finishing third going a mile on turf in the restricted Kathryn Crosby Stakes Nov. 11 at Del Mar, Nadette, who hadn’t run since April 29 at Golden Gate Fields, should benefit from the recent outing. With an abundance of speed signed on Sunday, she will hope to be rolling late with Hector Berrios back aboard, and she was at 5-1 on the morning line.

Although winless in six stateside starts for Drysdale dating back to Oct. 29, when she closed much ground to be second at a mile on grass in the Autumn Miss (G3), Nadette has competed exclusively in stakes, four of them graded, finishing second twice and third in her most recent, the Crosby at Del Mar.

A 5-year-old mare, Nadette, who is owned by Team Valor International, is 15: 3-3-1 with earnings of $140,634.

Also owned in-part by Team Valor, Irish-bred Wakanaka, second choice on the morning line at 3-1, rates a big look in what will be her first start at Santa Anita.  A Grade 2 winner, she is easily the leading money earner in the field with $913,575. She will be reunited with Joel Rosario, who has ridden her seven times, winning an ungraded stakes at Keeneland in November, 2022.

Trained by Bill Mott in all of her 13 previous North American starts, winning two of them, she’ll be making her first start for locally-based Michael McCarthy.

Although campaigned primarily at middle distances on turf, she’s proven more than capable in turf sprints as well, as she rallied from far off the pace on Oct. 15 at Keeneland. She was also second beaten a neck in the Ladies Turf Sprint (G2) going 6 1/2 furlongs three races back at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 9.

A 6-year-old mare owned jointly by Gary Barber and Team Valor, Wakanaka, who campaigned exclusively in Italy prior to making her U.S. debut at Gulfstream Park in January, 2022, is 22: 8-6-2 overall.

Phil D’Amato’s speedy Elm Drive, who has posted a win and a second from two tries down the hillside, cuts back in distance after a seventh place run going a mile on turf in the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar Dec. 3. Although she’ll have other speed to contend with, she should be extremely tough with Flavien Prat taking the call, and she's the morning-line favorite at 5-2.

A winner down the hill of the ungraded Mizdirection Stakes six starts back on May 20, Elm Drive, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by Mohaymen, was second, beaten a head down the hill two races back in the ungraded Senator Ken Maddy on Nov. 3.

Owned by Little Red Feather Racing, consistent Elm Drive is 15: 5-1-3 with earnings of $516,640.