Six older fillies and mares will bid for a first graded stakes win in the $150,000 Milady Handicap (gr. II) at Hollywood Park May 16, a race dominated in the past two years by the undefeated Zenyatta.
The big mare, now 16-0 in her career, is skipping the Milady this year and is likely to show up next in Hollywood's $250,000 Vanity Handicap (gr. I) on June 13, when she'll try to surpass the streak for consecutive wins held by Citation and Cigar. Her absence helps make the 1 1/16-mile Milady an open affair for the half-dozen entrants that will take a shot on the Cushion Track. It will go off as the seventh race on the program with a probable post of 4:05 p.m. PDT.
Third Dawn, from the John Sadler stable, drew the top weight assignment of 117 pounds. Winner of the Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar in her final start of 2009, the 4-year-old daughter of Sky Mesa has raced just once since then, finishing fourth in Santa Anita's Santa Lucia Handicap April 16. Third Dawn missed by a nose to Stardom Bound at odds of 35-1 in the Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I) in 2009 and also ran third in the last year's Hollywood Oaks (gr. II).
Owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash, the bay filly has won three of her 11 lifetime races with earnings of $223,938. She drew the rail and will have regular pilot Joel Rosario in the irons.
Also in the Milady field are Dance to My Tune and Made for Magic, who ran second and third, respectively, in the Santa Lucia.
Canadian-bred Dance to My Tune, who was favored in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Lucia, looks to end a 17-race losing streak for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and owner Olympia Star. Her last victory came in the restricted Jammed Lovely Stakes at Woodbine Nov. 11, 2007.
Prior to the Santa Lucia, Dance to My Tune ran second to Zenyatta at odds of 51-1 in the Santa Margarita Handicap (gr. I) at Santa Anita March 13. She has four wins in 30 lifetime starts with earnings of $495,011.
Made for Magic has started six times in 2010 for trainer A.C. Avila, winning once. The victory came by nearly nine lengths in an optional claiming allowance race at Santa Anita April 2, which she followed two weeks later with a close third in the Santa Lucia.
L-Bo Racing and Michael Lamb's 5-year-old daughter of Cape Canaveral has won three of 13, including the Las Madrinas Stakes at Fairplex Park, since being claimed for $16,000 last Aug. 21 at Golden Gate Fields.
Arnold Zetcher's Wynning Ride is the only Milady entrant coming into the race off a win. That 2 1/4-length tally came after a layoff of nearly eight months in a first-level allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita April 16.
Trained by Bob Baffert, the 4-year-old Candy Ride filly has posted grade I placings on both coasts, finishing second in the Hollywood Starlet as a 2-year-old and third in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park last July.
Bred in Ontario, Canada by Winsong Farms, Wynning Ride has won two of eight while earning $218,108. Martin Garcia has the call and she will carry 115 pounds.
Joffe's Run will be making her initial appearance in a graded race in the United States. She was unplaced in a group III event in England in 2007.
A 5-year-old Giant's Causeway mare out of the Seattle Slew mare Laguna Seca, Joffe's Run returned from a 15-month absence to run sixth in a conditioned allowance in her only start of the year Feb. 18. Now in the Neil Drysdale barn, Joffe's Run won a pair of non-graded stakes at Calder Race Course in 2008.
Miss Silver Brook, a two-time winner in 13 starts, completes the field. She has yet to finish better than fourth for owners Anthony Fanticola and Joe Scardino and trainer Julio Canani in three graded stakes races. In her most recent appearance, Miss Silver Brook was ninth in the La Canada Stakes (gr. II) on Feb. 14 at Santa Anita.
$150,000 Milady Handicap (gr. II, Race 7, 4:05 p.m. PDT), Fillies & Mares 3 & Up, 1 1/16 Miles (Synthetic)
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Third Dawn (KY), J Rosario, 117, J W Sadler
2. Made for Magic (KY), O A Berrio, 116, A C Avila
3. Dance to My Tune (ON), R Bejarano, 116, J Hollendorfer
4. Wynning Ride (ON), M Garcia, 115, B Baffert
5. Miss Silver Brook (KY), J Talamo, 112, J C Canani
6. Joffe's Run (KY), T Baze, 114, N D Drysdale