Lady T from off the pace to win the G3 Las Flores (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Release
ARCADIA, Calif.— Unhurried early, Tina and Jerry Moss’s Lady T came running late to take Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Las Flores Stakes under Victor Espinoza. Trained by John Shirreffs, Lady T got six furlongs in 1:09.65 over a Santa Anita main track that was listed as fast.
Fifth and on the move mid-way around the turn, Lady T was about 3 ½ lengths off of dueling leaders Doris Mae and Manorelli approaching the quarter pole. Four-deep turning for home, Lady T outran favored Samurai Charm to the sixteenth pole and overtook the front-runners close home to win going away.
“I think the race set up better for her today,” said Espinoza, who has been aboard for 10 of Lady T’s 11 starts. “Having the outside post helped her a lot. She can be a little complicated, so things have to go her way or if not, then she doesn’t perform as she should.
“She a little funny because she looks at everything, she sees everything more than I do or anyone else. Sometimes she has a bad habit of wanting to go out and (she) starts lugging out. And when that happens, it is hard for me to control her. Today, from the outside post, I didn’t have to do much with her, just let her run.”
A 3-year-old filly by Into Mischief, Lady T, who was second, beaten a nose in a six furlong allowance Nov. 27 at Del Mar, was off at 2-1 in field of eight fillies and mares three and up and paid $6.80, $3.80 and $3.00.
Purchased for $235,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling, Lady T, who was second in the Grade II Summertime Oaks going a mile and one sixteenth here four starts back on June 12, got her first stakes victory today and is now 11-2-6-0 overall. With the winner’s share of $60,000, she now has earnings of $229,700.
“This is a great way to end the year and this is a nice filly,” said Shirreffs. “We really like this filly and maybe we found out what she wants to do. We’ve tried her two turns and today, it looked like she did this very well. Yes, we’ll keep her sprinting for now. Victor gave her a great ride, he’s patient with her and saved the best for last.”
In a huge effort, Manorelli dueled from the outset with Doris Mae but couldn’t hold off the winner late, finishing second by a half length over her pace nemesis. Ridden by Edwin Maldonado for Luis Mendez, Manorelli was off at 26-1 and paid $16.60 and $7.60.
Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Doris Mae, off at 9-1, paid $5.60 to show while finishing 1 ¼ lengths in front of Samurai Charm, who appeared fourth-best on the day.
Fractions on the race were 21.97, 44.26 and 56.79.
Racing resumes with first post time for an eight-race card on New Year’s Day at 12 noon. Admission gates open at 10 a.m.
