Super Corredora. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA —Champion Super Corredora and Explora, the one-two finishers in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will clash for a second time Sunday in the Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going one mile at Santa Anita. One race prior to the Las Virgenes, a wide-open field of older horses will test the unique hillside turf course in the Clockers’ Corner Stakes.
in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies going 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Oct. 31, Super Corredora beat favorite Explora by three-quarters of a length when making her stakes debut. The victory sealed for Super Corredora the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2025. She has not raced since.
Trained by John Sadler, Super Corredora is a Gun Runner filly who sold for $400,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. She is owned by Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert C. Gardiner and Michael W. Olszewski. Regular rider Hector Berrios again has the call on Super Corredora.
Explora, trained by Bob Baffert, comes in with a recency edge over Super Corredora as on Jan. 10 at Santa Anita, the daughter of Blame romped to a 5 ¼ length victory in the Santa Ynez going seven furlongs. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Explora won the GII Oak Leaf around two turns and was second in the GI Del Mar Debutante.
A $350,000 auction buy last year, Explora is owned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. She’ll have regular rider Juan Hernandez aboard.
Looming as a threat to the above duo is Meaning, who finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies when making just her second start. Trained by Michael McCarthy, she has also been off since the Breeders’ Cup. Meaning prior to that effort was a debut winner going 6 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos in September. By Gun Runner, Meaning was a $440,00 auction buy as a yearling. She is campaigned by Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
Meaning has attracted North America’s reigning two-time champion jockey Flavien Prat to come west and ride.
The Las Virgenes goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card Sunday. Post time is approximately 2:30 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Meaning, Flavien Prat; Explora, Juan Hernandez; Bank Shot, Adrian Escobedo; Super Corredora, Hector Berrios.
The Clockers’ Corner Stakes is for older horses that have not won a graded stakes in 2025-26. It attracted a field of seven runners led by stakes winner Sumter for trainer Richard Mandella and Speed Boat Beach, who returns to the stakes ranks for trainer Bob Baffert.
Veteran campaigner Sumter is exiting a solid second-place finish in the GII Joe Hernandez sprinting on the hillside turf course Dec. 29. The 7-year-old gelding by War Front is 30: 5-6-5 with $521,879 in earnings for owners-breeders Perry R. Bass and Ramona S. Bass. Flavien Prat, who was aboard in the Joe Hernandez, retains the mount on Sumter.
Speed Boat Beach, the 2023 GI Malibu winner, returned from a layoff Jan. 23 at Santa Anita and finished second by a neck sprinting down the hill in a high-level allowance. Trained by Bob Baffert, Speed Boat Beach is 11: 4-2-0 with $519,050 in earnings for owners Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. He’ll have Juan Hernandez aboard.
The Clockers’ Corner goes as the seventh race at approximately 2:00 p.m. The field in post position order: Sumter, Flavien Prat; Yellow Card, Emisael Jaramillo; Irish Royalty, Antonio Fresu; Speed Boat Beach, Juan Hernandez; Sorrento Sky, Kazushi Kimura; Flyover, Florent Geroux; Virat, Hector Berrios.
First post for Sunday is 11 A.M. PT.
