Toupie goes west to win again, this time in Las Ciénegas

For the second time in less than four months, eastern-based Toupie shipped to California and took down a stakes race on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course. This time it was the Grade 3, $100,000 Las Ciénegas, which she won by 2 1/4 lengths Sunday as the even-money favorite under Flavien Prat.

Trained by Graham Motion, Toupie went to the lead and never was headed. She set comfortable fractions of 22.39, 44.72 and 1:07.09 before cruising past the finish line with a time of 1:12.97 for about 6 1/2 furlongs. In late September, Toupie came west to Santa Anita and won the Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside course.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

“It seems like she really enjoyed herself out there,” said Prat, who also rode Toupie to her win in the Unzip Me. “She is just talented. Graham has done a great job with her, because she can be on the muscle. She relaxed well today.”

Anywho (20-1), ridden by Héctor Berrios, finished second by a neck over Nadette (4-1) with another neck back to Miss Lizzy (8-1) in fourth.

A 4-year-old filly by Nyquist, Toupie is a homebred for Alain and Gérard Wertheimer. Sandwiched between her two stakes wins at Santa Anita was a fourth-place finish in the Autumn Days going six furlongs on turf Nov. 8 at Aqueduct.

Toupie paid $4.20, $3.00 and $2.40. Anywho, trained by John Sadler, returned $14.60 and $7.40. Nadette, ridden by Juan Hernández for trainer Neil Drysdale, paid $3.20 to show.

The Las Ciénegas originally was scheduled for seven days ago, but it was postponed when Santa Anita called off racing last weekend because of wildfires and poor air quality.