Shocking Grey wins the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif. — Shocking Grey, who exits a win in the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint Jan. 18 at Santa Anita, will look to add a second stakes win to the resume when taking on seven rivals in Sunday’s $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes for horses bred or sired in California at about 6 ½ furlongs on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.
Shocking Grey won the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf, also contested on the hillside course, by 2 ¼ lengths with Antonio Fresu up for trainer Jeff Mullins and owner Valpredo Family Trust. She is now owned by Rockingham Ranch and trained by George Papaprodromou.
A 6-year-old Grazen mare, Shocking Grey is 14: 3-3-4 with $250,750 in earnings. She will again have Fresu in the irons.
Pushiness, a statebred stakes winner on dirt for trainer Michael McCarthy and owner Mike Repole, will be trying turf for just the second time when making her 4-year-old debut. Pushiness was last seen Nov. 24 finishing third in the Betty Grable Stakes for statebreds going seven furlongs on dirt at Del Mar. In her only previous grass try, the Kantharos filly was beaten three-quarters of a lengths in a five-furlong allowance at Del Mar in August.
Pushiness is 8: 4-1-2 with $272,046 in earnings. She will have regular rider Umberto Rispoli aboard.
Moment’s Pleasure, trained by Craig Lewis, was beaten 2 ¾ lengths by Shocking Grey when third in the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint. It was her only previous try on the hillside turf course. Last year, the now 4-year-old filly by Clubhouse Ride got her lone stakes win in the Solana Beach going a mile on turf at Del Mar.
Moment’s Pleasure is 15: 4-4-2 with $309,978 in earnings for owners Rainmaker Racing LLC and Bret Lewis. She will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who has been aboard for her previous two starts including the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint.
THE IRISH O’BRIEN WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 8 of 10 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT
- Cornelia Fort—Juan Hernandez—122
- Tam’s Little Angel—Tiago Pereira—124
- Lamporghini—Geovanni Franco—122
- Sneaker—Frankie Dettori—122
- Pushiness—Umberto Rispoli—124
- Shocking Grey—Antonio Fresu—124
- Prancingthruparis—Armando Ayuso—122
- Moment’s Pleasure—Flavien Prat—124
First post Sunday is 1 p.m. PT and admission gates open at 11 a.m.
