CAMILLA URSO STAKES ATTRACTS FULL FIELD
A full field of filly and mare sprinters contest five furlongs on the turf in this Saturday’s feature race: the $75,000 Camilla Urso Stakes. 10 is the magic number-that is, the maximum number of starters that are allowed to race five panels in any given Golden Gate Fields turf sprint. 14 total entrants slipped into the entry box for the 2020 Camilla Urso, which means four runners are on the outside looking in: Mucho Amor, Mother of Dragons, Dearborn and Bezzy. If there is a defection before scratch time at 10 AM on Saturday morning, then Mucho Amor will draw into the race. With two scratches, Mother of Dragons draws in…and so on.
The morning line favorite is 4-1 shot Storming Lady, a Southern California shipper from the Alfredo Marquez barn. The daughter of Flat Out was last seen winning a second level allowance race at Santa Anita while sprinting five and a half furlongs on their pristine grass course. Storming Lady will be ridden by Hall of Fame pilot Kent Desormeaux, who won last week’s All American Stakes aboard Restrainedvengence.
The other Southern California entrant, Fantasy Heat, makes her first start of the year for trainer Mark Glatt. In 2019, she won a pair of allowance races before finishing off-the-board in the $100,000 Unzip Me Stakes at Santa Anita in September. This is her first afternoon appearance since the aforementioned poor effort.
The majority of the field, not surprisingly of course, is comprised of locals. Ima Happy Cat ran second in this race last year behind graded stakes winner S Y Sky and looks for a victory in this year’s rendition. Trainer Dan Markle indicated that his 5-year-old grey mare by Smiling Tiger is entering the race in great shape.
“She’s doing as good as ever,” said Markle. “She ran a really good second to a really nice mare last year. We’re looking forward to getting her back on grass. [#8 Red Livy] has a lot of speed, so if we sit right off of her I’d be OK with it. But my mare is quick, too, so hopefully we get a good trip. It’s going to be a great finish, I’m sure.”
Bill McLean, who saddles Red Livy for her 2020 debut, noted that his mare, does indeed, have plenty of early gas. However, the level of competition she faces here is tougher than what she has ever seen.
“This is an awfully tough race,” said McLean. “Red Livy will be on the lead. She likes the turf, obviously, and loves the 5 furlong distance. The question is whether she’s good enough. She hasn’t run since December but she’ll be fit. She puts a lot into her gallops and has been working well.”
Trainer Blaine Wright has a duo of contenders in Coco Bee and Mucho Amor. As mentioned earlier, Mucho Amor is the first “also eligible” and will need a defection to draw into the main body of the field. Coco Bee, on the other hand, will break from post position two and makes her career debut on turf. Coco Bee also adds blinkers and tries stakes company for the first time.
Don’t count out Sergio Ledezma, who enters two runners in Saturday’s feature. Both are stakes caliber quality; 4-year-old filly Princess Vivian won the Bear Fan Stakes in December while 7-year-old mare Vronilla Parfait has hit the board twice in Northern California stakes races. Princess Vivian, 9-2 on the morning line, is the local with arguably the best recent form. On the contrary, Vronilla Parfait will go off at a big price, as projected from her 20-1 morning line odds.
Tomlin, a Grade 2 placed mare, makes her career debut on turf and draws the rail for trainer Steve Specht. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Distorted Humor wheels back quickly after an off-the-board finish in the Grade 3 Desert Stormer on dirt last month at Santa Anita. Gotham Desire, conditioned by Ed Moger Jr., has run once on turf, with that lone start resulting in a victory against allowance foes at the 5-furlong distance last year. Left Alone, campaigned by Manny Badilla, has won her last two races. In fact, she beat Ima Happy Cat and Coco Bee in a second level allowance on Tapeta just two months ago. She is 0 for 7 on grass, however, and clearly must show she can be as effective on turf as she is on synthetic.
The Camilla Urso goes as Race 8 on the 9-race Saturday card, with post time set at 4:23 p.m. PT.
$75,000 Camilla Urso Stakes
#1 Tomlin (6-1 morning line, Jockey Kyle Frey, Trainer Steve Specht)
#2 Coco Bee (6-1, Juan Hernandez, Blaine Wright)
#3 Ima Happy Cat (6-1, Ricky Gonzalez, Dan Markle)
#4 Left Alone (8-1, William Antongeorgi III, Manny Badilla)
#5 Princess Vivien (9-2, Catalino Martinez, Sergio Ledezma)
#6 Fantasy Heat (5-1, Frank Alvarado, Mark Glatt)
#7 Storming Lady (5-1, Kent Desoremaux, Alfredo Marquez)
#8 Red Livy (12-1, Alejandro Gomez, Bill McLean)
#9 Gotham Desire (12-1, Silvio Amador, Ed Moger Jr.)
#10 Vronilla Parfait (20-1, Francisco Monroy, Sergio Ledezma)
ALSO ELIGIBLES
#11 Mucho Amor (10-1, Kyle Frey, Blaine Wright)
#12 Mother of Dragons (6-1, Julien Couton, Andreas Psarras)
#13 Dearborn (15-1, Hugo Herrera, Jeff Bonde)
#14 Bezzy (20-1, Cristobal Herrera, Victor Trujillo)
CALIFORNIA OAKS DRAWS ENTRANTS FROM TOP OUTFITS
Eight races take place on Sunday at Golden Gate Fields, with the headliner spotted as Race 7: the $75,000 California Oaks for 3-year-old fillies routing one-mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta.
Among the 7 fillies entered is Eclair, winner of the Golden Gate Debutante on November 29. Trained by legendary Southern California conditioner Bob Baffert, the daughter of Bernardini has yet to run as a 3-year-old and makes her 2020 debut in this spot. Go-to Baffert jockey Drayden Van Dyke is assigned to ride Eclair and flies up north from his base in Arcadia, California for the call.
Also from the southern part of the Golden State, trainer Simon Callaghan ships a pair for the ‘Oaks. Paige Anne, who last ran fourth in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita, already has experience competing over the Golden Gate Tapeta. In January, she won an allowance race by a half dozen lengths and defeated two rivals (Reiwa and Mollie O’ McEvoy) who also enter into this race. Juan Hernandez was aboard for the runaway score that day. Coincidentally, Hernandez lands on the other Callaghan entrant, Mind Out, an $850,000 sale purchase by Tapit. After breaking her maiden and finishing second in the Surfer Girl Stakes over the summertime, she returned from a layoff to finish as the runner up behind stablemate Parkour in an allowance turf route at Santa Anita on March 22. Parkour is listed as a main contender in the Grade 3 Honeymoon Stakes at Santa Anita this Saturday. Mind Out makes her second start off a layoff in the California Oaks.
Leading Golden Gate trainer Jonathan Wong saddles a duo of contenders in Reiwa and Dynasty of Her Own. Reiwa has hit the board in her last three races, each time finishing behind rivals who enter back in this spot. Dynasty of Her Own is already a stakes winner, having won the Borderplex Stakes at Sunland Park as a 2-year-old. Most recently, Dynasty of Her Own won an allowance race over Reiwa on March 29.
“I’ve always really liked Dynasty of Her Own,” said Wong. “Right now, she is training really well. She has been on the lead in her last couple of starts routing but if someone decides to go too quick, I have confidence she can sit off with [jockey] Ricky [Gonzalez]. Reiwa…she’ll be sitting off and making one run. We’re hoping for a good pace for her to run at, and hopefully from there she can pick up the pieces.”
Trainer Bill Delia will tighten the girth of improving 3-year-old filly Mollie O’ McEvoy. The daughter of razor sharp California stallion Clubhouse Ride won an allowance race over the Golden Gate Tapeta on March 8 and makes her stakes debut in the California Oaks.
“I’ve always thought she would be better with distance and better with time,” said Delia. “She’s improved with racing experience and she likes routing. She posted a beautiful workout the other morning. I really liked the way she went.”
Fashion Royalty, trained by Paddy Gallagher, rounds out the field. The California Oaks will go off at approximately 3:45 PM PT and goes as the penultimate race on the Sunday program.
$75,000 California Oaks
#1 Reiwa (Jockey William Antongeorgi III, trainer Jonathan Wong)
#2 Dynasty Of Her Own (Ricky Gonzalez, Jonathan Wong)
#3 Paige Anne (Catalino Martinez, Simon Callaghan)
#4 Fashion Royalty (Julien Couton, Paddy Gallagher)
#5 Mollie O’ McEvoy (Kyle Frey, Bill Delia)
#6 Mind Out (Juan Hernandez, Simon Callaghan)
#7 Eclair (Drayden Van Dyke, Bob Baffert)
FINISH LINES: Last Saturday, Lifeline won the fourth race for trainer Andy Mathis and owners Hronis Racing LLC. Lifeline possesses royal pedigree: he is by leading North American stallion Tapit and out of the 2009 Breeders Cup Ladies Classic/Distaff winner Life Is Sweet…Sacred Rider won last Sunday’s second race, an allowance optional claimer for 3-year-old turf routers, in impressive fashion. With that, trainer Steve Specht opts to wheel his stakes placed 3-year-old back in just six days for a separate allowance event on grass this Saturday. The son of stakes winner Lady Railrider is 9-5 on the morning line…The first “baby races” of the year took place last weekend. On Saturday, 2-year-old filly Gardee’s World pulled off a 20-1 upset for trainer Mike Lenzini and jockey David C. Lopez. One day later, Tom’s Song won a 4-and a half furlong dash for 2-year-old colts and geldings. Frank Alvarado was aboard for Steve Specht……Restrainedvengence earned a 103 Beyer speed figure for his victory in the one-mile, $100,000 All American Stakes on Memorial Day. Kent Desormeaux rode for trainer Val Brinkerhoff…$65,023 has been carried over into the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager heading into Friday‘s card.