ARCADIA, Calif. —In a near replica of her smashing maiden win, Michael Lund Petersen’s Adare Manor crushed three rivals in winning Sunday’s Grade III, $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita by 13 lengths. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by John Velazquez, Adare Manor got one mile in 1:37.11.
With longshot Gracelund Gray going to the front, Adare Manor, who was well in-hand, tracked her to the 3 ½ furlong pole and began to inch away as she quickly asserted her superiority. Turning for home, the Las Virgenes was a fait accompli, as Adare Manor opened up six widening lengths on Queen of Thorns in what developed into an equine procession.
“Today, I engaged her right from the gate and she got a little bit strong at the first turn, so I had to grab her a little bit to slow her down the first part of the race,” said Velazquez, who was aboard for a 12 length, gate to wire maiden victory at the same distance on Jan. 7. “Once we got to the half mile pole, I kind of put my hands down on her and her long stride just kept going like that.
“I just left her alone and let her get into her rhythm, and she just showed up today. I looked back a couple of times and I slowed it down. I looked up and saw they were pretty far (back) and I backed up, thinking, I should save something here although she was breathing fire up front. I didn’t want to ask her down the lane and then Bob would get mad at me. I definitely wanted to save something.”
In her first stakes appearance, Adare Manor, a filly by Uncle Mo out of the Giant Gizmo mare Brooklynsway, was off at 2-5 and paid $2.80 and $2.10 with no show wagering.
“She duplicated her last race, you know, she’s got that big, long stride on her,” said Baffert, who notched his record sixth win in the Las Virgenes. “I sprinted her twice and I thought she’d win each of those times and then I thought, well, she wants to go long…She’s like an amazon, she’s got that big, powerful (way of moving).
“She’s got that big frame but she’s quick. She relaxed nicely today… I think that time is pretty serious on this track. Just gotta keep ’em healthy. I’ve run her twice now (at the current meet), I don’t want to come back too quick with her.”
Adare Manor is now 4-2-1-0 and with the winner’s share of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $176,600.
In what amounted to a separate race, Queen of Thorns, who was second turning for home, stayed there, finishing 1 ¼ lengths in front of Miss Everything. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Queen of Thorns was off at 5-2 and paid $2.60 to place.
Fractions on the race were 22.72, 46.66, 1:11.06 and 1:23.75.
GRADE III, $200,000 LAS VIRGENES STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
JOHN VELAZQUEZ, ADARE MANOR, WINNER: “Bob (Baffert) told me even when she broke her maiden that’s what she wanted to do. She wanted to go the two turns, get her stride going. Today I engaged her right from the gate and she got a little bit strong at the first turn, so I had to grab her a little bit try to slow her down a bit the first part of the race. Once we got to the half mile pole, I kind of put my hands down on her and her long stride just kept going just like that. I just left her alone and let her get into her rhythm, and she just showed up today. Obviously, she stepped it up from one race to another one and she did it very nicely today.
“I looked back a couple of times and I slowed it down, I looked up saw they were pretty far (back) and I backed up thinking, I should save something here although she was breathing fire up front, I didn’t want to ask her down the lane then Bob would get mad at me. I definitely wanted to save something.”
TRAINER QUOTES
BOB BAFFERT, ADARE MANOR, WINNER: “She duplicated her last race, you know, she’s got that big, long stride on her. I sprinted her twice and I thought she’d win each of those times and then I thought, well she wants to go long…She’s like an amazon, she’s got that big, powerful (way of moving). She’s got that big frame but she’s quick. She relaxed nicely today…I think that time (1:37.11) is pretty serious on this track. Just gotta keep ’em healthy. I’ve run her twice now, I don’t want to come back too quick with her.”
NOTES: The winning owner is Michael Lund Petersen.
Santa Anita Press Release
Photo: Adare Manor wins the Las Virgenes/Benoit Photo
