Enclosure gallops at Santa Anita Feb. 20 (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Queen Goddess Headed Out Of Town For A Grade I Try
Stable Notes By Victor Ryan
ARCADIA, Calif.— The penultimate race on Saturday’s 11-race program is an intriguing 6 ½-furlong maiden heat for 3-year-old fillies featuring a pair of homebreds for leading international stable Juddmonte Farms and a $1.2 million auction purchase making start No. 2 for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella.
The Juddmonte fillies, Enclosure and Pleasant, are both trained by Bob Baffert. Enclosure is by Arrogate and is the first foal out of Cognitive, a daughter of Uncle Mo who was a debut winner for Baffert at Santa Anita in 2018. Enclosure started working at Los Alamitos in mid-November and most recently has worked four times at Santa Anita.
Pleasant is by Munnings out of the unraced Medaglia d’Oro mare Fair Lady, who herself is a half-sister to graded stakes winner First Defence. Pleasant has had nearly an identical work schedule to that of her stablemate.
Enclosure drew the rail for her bow and will have Santa Anita leading rider Juan Hernandez in the irons. She is the 5-2 second choice on the morning line. Pleasant, who will break from post No. 5 in a seven-horse field, will be ridden by John Velazquez. She is 4-1 in the program.
“They are both nice fillies,” Baffert said Friday morning. “The Arrogate (Enclosure) is probably going to need a race and I think she wants two turns. The Munnings (Pleasant) is quicker.”
Ruby Nell is the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Mandella. From the first crop of Bolt d’Oro, Ruby Nell is out of the Not For Love mare Rich Love. She commanded the highest-price at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Florida select 2-year-olds in training sale from owner Spendthrift Farm.
In her bow going 6 ½ furlongs on turf here Jan. 22, Ruby Nell broke slow and ran into trouble early in the proceedings. She was ninth of 11 after the opening half mile, but then rallied under Hernandez to be a solid second. The winner was the highly regarded AG Bullet, who trainer George Papaprodromou said this week will run in the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park a week from Saturday.
Ruby Nell will break from the far outside in her dirt debut. With Hernandez opting to ride Enclosure, Frankie Dettori takes over in the saddle.
Saturday’s 10th race has a scheduled post time of 5:01 p.m.
The field in post-position order:
1. Enclosure, Juan Hernandez (5-2)
2. Virasana, Edwin Maldonado (8-1)
3. Magazine, Abdul Alsagoor, (15-1)
4. Mahina, Drayden Van Dyke (8-1)
6. Pleasant, John Velazquez (4-1)
7. Three Strands, Hector Berrios (6-1)
8. Ruby Nell, Frankie Dettori (8-5).
Queen Goddess Headed Out Of Town For A Grade I Try
Queen Goddess, winner of the Grade III Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park Jan. 28, will next head to Kentucky for a Grade I tilt in the $600,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland, trainer Michael McCarthy said Thursday.
The 1 1/16-mile Jenny Wiley is slated for April 15. Queen Goddess previously raced at Keeneland as a 3-year-old in the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup where she finished fifth. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Gary Barber, the daughter of Empire Maker has had two half-mile works at Santa Anita this month following the Pegasus.
“She’s had a couple of nice works and looks good,” McCarthy said.
Queen Goddess sports a record of 6-2-1 in 11 starts with earnings of $761,580. She is a four-time graded stakes winner, which includes the Grade I American Oaks in 2021 that was switched to the main track because of rain.
FINISH LINES
Due to recent rain, Friday’s three turf races, including the Irish O’Brien at 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf, will now be run on the main track at their originally scheduled distances…Also, Santa Anita’s turf chute will be unavailable over the weekend. All turf races originally scheduled for either six or 6 ½ furlongs on Saturday and Sunday will now be run at 5 ½ furlongs on turf. This does not include weekend sprints scheduled for the hillside turf course…
Santa Anita will run 11 races Saturday with first post at 12:30 p.m…Every Friday during the Classic meet, on-track patrons will receive free admission and parking, as well as $3 beers and $5 margaritas…
On Saturday, the first 1,000 fans to visit the East Paddock Gardens will receive a Santa Anita Jockey Colony Print. Jockeys will also be signing the print from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m…
Clocker Toby Turrell will be Tom Quigley’s featured handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:20.
