Fanticola got the proverbial monkey off her back last time out, earning her first graded score in the Royal Heroine Stakes (gr. IIT), and will look to continue her success in the John C. Mabee Stakes (gr. IIT) Aug. 8 at Del Mar.
Before the one-mile Royal Heroine at Santa Anita Park June 27, the speedy Canadian-bred mare trained by Phil D'Amato had two heartbreaking losses in the Santa Barbara Handicap (gr. IIIT) April 18 and Gamely Stakes (gr. IT) May 25.
In the Santa Barbara, fellow Mabee entrant Queen of The Sand caught the front-running 5-year-old mare at the wire to win by a nose, and in the Gamely, it was Hard Not to Like who skimmed the rail to catch Fanticola by neck.
Fanticola was able to hold off Queen of The Sand by a neck at the wire, however, in the Royal Heroine.
ANGST: No Denying Fanticola in Royal Heroine Stakes
Stormy Lucy, a 6-year-old Stormy Atlantic mare, is the only multiple graded winner in the field, but hasn't won in five tries since winning the Santa Barbara (gr. IIIT) and Santa Ana (gr. IIT) stakes back to back in 2014. She was third in the Royal Heroine.
Three other graded winners dot the field, in Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Emotional Kitten, last a graded winner in the Mrs. Revere Stakes (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs in 2013; Personal Diary, who took last year's Del Mar Oaks (gr. IT), but hasn't finished better than third in five starts since; and Blingismything, the winner of the Wilshire Stakes (gr. IIIT) who finished sixth in the Royal Heroine.
Stakes winner Notte d'Oro and French allowance winner Gusto Dolce complete the field.
Del Mar, Saturday, August 08, 2015, Race 8
Entries: John C. Mabee S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Notte d'Oro (KY) Flavien Prat 119 Michael Stidham - 2 2Emotional Kitten (PA) Gary L. Stevens 119 Wesley A. Ward - 3 3Fanticola (ON) Joseph Talamo 121 Philip D'Amato - 4 4Stormy Lucy (KY) Rafael Bejarano 119 Ed Moger, Jr. - 5 5Personal Diary (KY) Brice Blanc 121 Victoria H. Oliver - 6 6Gusto Dolce (URU) Martin A. Pedroza 119 Richard E. Mandella - 7 7Queen of The Sand (IRE) Drayden Van Dyke 119 Patrick Gallagher - 8 8Elektrum (IRE) Victor Espinoza 119 John W. Sadler - 9 9Blingismything (KY) Tyler Baze 119 J. Eric Kruljac -
